The Stranger with the Big Iron on her hip
by Helljumper206
Summary: Bane of the Legion, the hero of the New Vegas and the N.C.R. How will the Galaxy fair against a women that can walk away from getting shot in the head twice, and walk like it was a morning wake up call while also eats scrambled deathclaw eggs for breakfast? Guess Shepard will find out once he meets the mad bomber of the Mojave.
1. Prologue

**BOOM!**

Boomed the sound of a huge gun going off, making the wasteland having one less Slaver in the world.

Cycling and chambering a new round into the weapon. The owner of the weapon sight into the next Slaver of the group.

There laying on the ground, wearing a unique set of Remnant Enclave power armor wielding a heavily modified Anti-Material rifle, was the Courier. Bane of the Legion, the hero of the to the New Vegas and the N.C.R.

She had been hunting the stranded remnants of Legion in a sense she crossed over Colorado and into Arizona last month. After the second battle of Hoover Dam securing it for the N.C.R. a couple months back and putting in the effort of securing New Vegas from any that would bring harm. While performing many deeds.

The Courier had helped the Brotherhood, and N.C.R. declared a truce despite hostilities between the two. Killed the leaders of the Fiends. Provide prosperity, hope, and a future for the Boomers. Aided the Followers of apocalypse into expanding, helping them grow to solve many problems. Bringing hope to many refugees. When the Great Khans migrate north towards Wyoming to re-establish themselves, she had closed the paths and deterred the N.C.R. from following them. Ensured the truce between the N.C.R. and the Kings bolstered between the two, allowing them to work together to rebuild Freeside in hopes of bringing it new life for all.

A month ago, the Courier had heard from the N.C.R. of a man out in northern Arizona that was gathering multiple elements of the scattered Caesar's Legion, bent on gathering strength to fight again. Despite protests from the few companions that still traveled with her, she couldn't settle on waiting for them to return to the Mojave.

The Courier had left the Lucky 38 with her friends. To use as a base for their needs, also left Cass in charge and in control of the securitorns. With Rex by her side as her guard dog and Yes Man at her demand. She was about to restart the Cassino under her management with the help of Arcade and Veronica for advice and technical support, and the Kings and Mr. Houses robots as the muscle for looking out over the strip. Raul took up his guns and left for his own journey. Becoming a wandering vigilante against those that prey on the weak. Lilly returned to Jacobstown to wait for the cure to the Nightkins skitsofrenia. Boone went back to his old unit within the N.C.R. and was going up through the ranks.

They all agreed to her decision as they all knew very little could stop the women. Having to pack for the long journey east, packed like her first trip up to Zion, gathering only her signature weapons and supplies. Her only companion that kept her company was ED-E, the little Enclave Eyebot that she fixed so long ago.

Seven more shots later she had taken down six more Legion slavers and there one dog that they had with them.

The Courier sighted as she calmly reloaded her AT rifle before setting it on her back. She let loose a sharp whistle to signal ED-E over and went together towards the dead patrol.

This had almost become routine for the two. For the last week, nearly twice a day they had been tracking and ambushing Legion parties in the region. Arizona didn't have roving raider gangs like the Mojave does. The Legion had either wiped them all out or assimilate them into the Legion.

Upon reaching the dead patrol. The Courier searched the dead for anything of use. After searching each guy, she came up with the usual of what a single patrol would carry. Throwing spears and machetes, along with healing powder and desert fruits were the norm with what a single patrol would bring. She'd sometimes find one would carry a cowboy repeater, hunting rifle or 12.7 SMG that were in poor condition. Legion didn't know how to care for their weapons unless it was a melee weapon, they didn't know crap about firearms.

Finding the leader of the patrol and searched his belongs, and a marked patrol map and documents concerning the region.

The Courier found it odd.

Each patrol that she had taken down before did not have any paper documents of any type except now. So why were these important? Looking them over the maps carefully and started cross-referencing the marks with her pipboy. She saw that they matched the patrols to the ones that she ambushed for the past week. Was this patrol hunting her? If so, they came massively unprepared if they were coming after her. She had taken many of Caesar's assassins in the past, and all of them were far more dangerous and prepared than these poor saps.

So why were they out here looking for me? Other than the obvious, of course, seeing her reputation the way it is. But that only increased her anxiety about the situation, or maybe she was just overthinking it.

Learning from Arcade that Caesar used to be a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse. He was educated and charismatic thanks to them, and when she met Joshua Gram over in Zion all those months ago, a first-hand account on how ruthless he really was. Beating over 87 tribes would mount for a testament to that.

Maybe whoever is in charge now is some cocky upstart and doesn't take her seriously just because she is a woman. The Legion already treats their women like trash, why expect such resistance from one themselves? Self-centered fools.

After gathering what ammo and food the dead patrol had on them, I went over to ED-E to put in his storage compartment. For such a small robot, he could carry quite a few things. Such as my food, spare parts, weapon repair kits, and the extra ammo for weapons I don't regularly use and often sell-off. Plus with all the significant upgrades I got for him during my one an only trip through the Divide, she'd say that he is the most useful robot anywhere and she loved it.

When she was finished stuffing ED-E with her things, she caught multiple red dots IFS. They were a ways away thanks to ED-E enhanced sensors but the way they were spread out and with how many they were made the Courier pause.

Trailing up a nearby hill, the Courier pulled out her AT rifle and looked through its scoop. What she saw made her eyes go slightly wide.

Roughly two hundred meters ahead of her were at least a hundred Legion troops sprinting her way, half of them with machetes held up in the sky heading her way. Warning Beep's from ED-E drew her attention to her left where she saw more red Legion coming from her in the same number as the first.

More beep's from bot drover her to look to her right. There she saw a third Legion company, this one with Legion Mongols leading in front.

The realization had sunk in, the Legion had laid a trap for her. They had pulled back all but one of their patrols to lure her out of hiding and expose her to the light. So when the shots were fired would signal the rest of the forces would come out of hiding that was outside of view come in to finally put her down in one fell swoop with overwhelming force in a three-prong attack.

The Courier was worried but also flattered.

Commanding ED-E not to engage she turned and ran. Despite all her experience from her many battles and firefights, this was not something she could win by herself in such an open area. She needed to fall back to a better position to stave off their attack, she had brought the ammo and the ordinance but not the means to use them against so many at once.

As they ran the Courier lay in the command for ED-E to start tossing its ordnance stockpile while zig-zagging. A recent command protocol that she had Veronica set in before leaving Vegas. Whenever before she went to bed she had robot companion lay out a minefield of satchel charges in areas around where she slept at night and collect them when she woke up.

The Courier's companions were always hesitant when she carried so many explosives. She was a bit of a mad bomber with the creations she could make at a workbench.

As the former delivery women and robot ran, they left behind a healthy selection of satchel charges, frag mines, plasma mines, and her personal favorite, fat miens. After a solid minute of scattering and existing their ordnance, came the satisfying booms of Legion slavers hitting her presents to them.

Looking at her surroundings, she spotted a slop that ran up that gave her multiple advantage points that she could exploit. Running up and setting her AT rifle, she began to get to work on thinning out her pursuers.

The explosives she had left behind already taken care of a few them out and made some of them wary of advancing. Making them easy targets for her shots. She was nearly firing non-stop with her rifle, only slowing down to briefly aim to make sure her shots connected.

Three faster and luckier ones came and reached her first. Drawing Lucky she fires off all three, a Hollow point round in each other their head with the help of V.A.T.S. They each fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut. By then the ones with guns started to use then laid a hail of bullets at the two, peppering the area with all kinds of calibers.

Not wanting to get bogged down, the Courier threw a few incendiary grenades before retreating further up the slope. Reaching the advantage point, she pulled out her Red Glare, loaded it with High Explosive rockets and unleashed all13 of them on the groups below. The results were nearly spectacular as body parts and blood were lifted through the air. Yet only doing so much as making another small dent in the hoard that came for her. She reloaded Red Glare another tube of rockets, this one full of incendiaries.

What came next would bring a horrifying image to anyone who wasn't accustomed to death. Rockets impacted the area in front of the still charging slavers, spewing flames of white phosphorus over them. Burning any exposed skin that it touched, those with uncovered heads or exposed faces had it worse as it entered their eyes, permanently blinding them for life.

By then they were close enough for ED-E to effectively use its improved Zapper, burning and sometimes disintegrating the burning Legion recruits. The Courier saw that the Legion were spreading out and getting smart as they tried to flank her from the sides. Seeing that her cover was going to be exposed. She raced upwards more with ED-E by her side.

When the two reach the next point, the Courier saw that they were now at the top there laid a wooden bridge to a small mountain pass. Before she could decide on crossing the bridge, a bullet deflected off her shoulder pad.

Twisting back while drawing Ranger Sequoia, she shoots into a Legion soldier with a cowboy repeater. Seeing little choice in the situation she was in, they crossed the bridge all the while the Courier reloads her weapons.

When they reached the other side, she opens ED-E's storage compartment and pulls out her assault carbine, All-American, and gives her AT rifle in return. Crouching down behind a nearby rock she sighted in on the first group Legion troops.

She unleashed full mags of .223 rounds into the following groups as many tried to cross the bridge to get to her with their machetes. The Courier wished Boone was with her at this moment. He would love to be given the opportunity of ending so many of the slavers that took his wife from him in one sitting.

The Courier's thoughts were brought to a halt when the unmistakable whooshing sound of an inbound missile. She shot it arced up and hits the rocks above her cause a few big ones to fall towards her. Taking hold of ED-E, she pushed them out of the way as the rocks fell where they stood moments ago. Getting back she saw more Legion soldiers crossing the bridge to get to them. Not wanting to have her skull split open, the Courier started to fall back while she fired the All-American.

The situation was starting to look bad in her eyes as she felt a few low caliber rounds being blocked by her armor. Nothing too bad yet, but she didn't know the lay of the land yet and didn't know where this pass led to. For all she knew it could be a dead-end or worse another legion party waiting to ambush her on the other side.

Not wanting to think about that now, nor was it the time, she focused on killing the Legion Recruit that decided that throwing spears were the thing that was going to kill her.

Taking him out, she targeted the next Slaver, and the next and so on. Making it a routine.

Feeling her back against a wall, she turned to a passage and followed it out. She needed to get out of this mess. She was starting to feel a little cornered.

Following the narrow corridor revealed a ridge that opened up to the right to a cliff. Down below, I saw there were Legion soldiers with guns ready to open fire at her.

Cursing her luck, she ran across in the open as bullets hit the area around her as she douched, sidestep and roll out of the assortment of incoming rounds. ED-E sending out panicked beeps along the way. When they were out of sight of the shooters, she turned to face her pursuers and ended a few more slavers.

Sweat was starting to roll and matted under her mask as the fighting began to drag on in her. They were literally throwing themselves at her at this point with the intent to kill. The only times this had happened were when she fought off this many enemies at once was during the second battle of Hoover Dam and cleaning out Vault 3 of the Fiends.

Falling back and running through the area she was in revealed another bridge to her lead to a clearing that showed a visible but clearly deserted town.

The Courier couldn't help but think this might have once been a slowly prosperous town before the Legion happened if anything like the sunbaked skulls on pikes at the front of the bridge were to any indication. Reaching the front of the town, she was greeted with a few burnt out self-made buildings and deserted streets. But it was only when the Courier reached the town was when she finally noticed something critical about the town itself.

As all the buildings and shacks looked like they were self-made with scraps of wood and metal clobbered together. It was built around a circle outcropping of natural rock walls that circled three-fourths of the town, giving it both a natural defense from the harsh elements and deter most enemies from attacking. But this was also a double-edged sword as they left little to no room to escape if the defenses were overwhelmed, dooming the town. What's more, the area under the bridge was too far for her to jump without risking series pain when reaching the bottom.

Cursing her luck, she wondered if this was their plan all along to trap her here and finish her off. If so, then she had to give them some props for finally using their heads. Especially after she personally blew apart so many of them.

Looking around, she saw an intact guard tower and went to take residence in. Climbing up to survey her surroundings, she had a good kill zone of any that tried to cross the bridge.

It was then the first group of Legion troops appeared on the other side of the bridge. So she got to work.

Lifting Red Glare, she sent them the first salvo of rockets at them.

The explosions tore through the Legions ranks as many went to cross only to be met with either a rocket to the face from the Courier or laser from ED-E.

After nearly full ten minutes of the constant firing of rockets did the Courier realized that they weren't coming anymore. When the smoke cleared, all that could be described, the area was a warzone. Scorched earth littered the pass that they came through. Bloody chunks of body parts, wreaked armor and weapons littered the area. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Looking through her I.F.S., she saw there was still a big glob of red in front of her. They had fallen back within the pass. Feeling that she was given a moment of reprieve, she lowered Red Glare and sat it next to her as she pulled out a discarded chair. The Courier knew the fighting was just starting, and already she was feeling a bit winded.

Not taking a chance she raised her pipboy and did an ammo check. The Courier was thankful that Doc Mitchel had given her this little piece of technology when Victor dug her out of the ground. Before having so much ammunition would have already weighed her down to the point she wouldn't be able to move. Now it doesn't weigh anything to her and could hold an army's worth of ammo if she wanted to. She had used up more than a fair amount of her rockets in this fight, she had barely touched her .357 and 40-70 ammo for Lucky and Ranger. There was a noticeable dent in her supply of .223 from the continued use earlier on the slope. Her ammo was still as massive as ever. Ever since she went through the Divide and walked the Courier's Mile, she came back with a huge stockpile of the heavy ammunition. Since then she has yet to make a noticeable dent in it considering how much she uses it.

For her explosives, she dropped every mine and charge they had when they ran for it in the beginning. She had a few frag and plasma grenades that she didn't use along with some makeshift explosives' that she hasn't tossed yet.

Overall things weren't so bad. The Courier had still had plenty of water and food to last a few weeks, and if need be, she still had that handheld transport gun to teleport her to the Sink in Big Mountain. Spending a few days there out of sight of the Legion would allow them to think she had escaped and they've wasted their time and resources.

That brought a small grin of irony to the Couriers face under her mask.

Taking one last look over her shoulder at the bridge to make sure no Legion was crossing, she got down from her tower to investigate the town she had just trapped herself in.

It was a one-lane road town with buildings on both sides leading to a bigger one at the end. It was almost like a pre-war neighborhood with the way it was all set up. Homes on one side with what must have been an inn, general store, and bar at the other. Reaching the end of the road, revealed the town hall. Entering the big building the Courier hoped to find any documents portraying the region she was in. Any info she had were biased from Legion documents or from back before the war.

Walking into the first office, she deduced it to be for what the law was around here, a Sheriff maybe. That wall of old police badges sure seemed to reinforce that idea.

Going through the place, she found a working computer terminal, the entries written by its past residents. Reading on the last few entries revealed that the town was being invaded by the Legion. It talked about how neighboring settlements were falling one by one to this new trip that was conquering everything in its path without a trace of remorse and been heading their way. Many fled from other villages to this before they hit the town, and with the extra defenders and supplies that people brought with them made defense's that held for two straight days with little problem.

That was the last message.

Looking around, the Courier found little else of value other than a few discarded bottle caps that she pocketed. Exiting the building, she felt a chill run over her. Similar to when one feels like when their being watched.

Brining her All-American up, she scanned the area looking for who was looking at them. Figuring it to be Legion, she hurried back to the bridge. Reaching it, she saw that it remained empty save for the dead that littered the other end. The feeling was still present, which didn't bring her any comfort what so ever.

A flicker of light caught in the corner of her eye. Looking up at the cliffs that loomed over her, a feeling of dread crept up. Reaching back behind her, the Courier grabbed her spare binoculars and scanned the cliffs that overlooked the village. There she saw Legionnaires armed with grenade rifles and Incinerators' pointing over the abended village.

Before she could formulate a plan, they rained literal fire on the town. The Courier ran and ducked under the nearest cover she could find, which turned out to be a wall of old sandbags.

Heat and dirt washed over her. The cooking smell of fuel and powdered residue filled the air around her. A metallic thumb landed in front, looking up to it; she saw ED-E dropped down to the ground to avoid getting hit by the incoming fire. Looking around her, she was pinned from all sides from enemy fire. Making a run for new cover that allowed her to fight back would be the ideal action to do but in doing so will have put her and ED-E in harm's way and more than likely with series injuries.

Seeing no further option, she reached to ED-E and turned her companion off and fall to the ground. She then reached into her sack and pulled what looked like a blue laser pistol.

The Big Mountain Transportalponder!

The Courier didn't use it often because whenever she did made her puke out whatever she had in her system. She also hadn't used it to get out of combat before because she was able to hand it. With things as they are now, now would be a good time to test its reliability.

Taking ED-E in hand, she placed his heavy dura-steel frame under her arm and held him tight. She learned later that if his power was turned off, she could take him with her Big MT. As she raises the Transporter gun to send her off.

A 40mm grenade lands in front of her just as she pulls the trigger.

*Brake*

"Where are you, Sidonis?" Muttered a tall blue armor Turian. This is the vigilante known to criminals everywhere in the space station Omega as Archangel.

Archangel had been waiting nearly half an hour for his friend to come out of hiding. He had been contacted by one of his team, having intel on a supposed Blood Pack gun-running operation in the Kenzo District. After a no show on his friend and communication by Omi-tool wasn't working he did an investigation himself and found no evidence of such operation.

Sidonis would never give him false intel. The two of them had been able to go far since they started combating drug runners, merc gangs, and other criminal elements on Omega. For him to do, this was not like him.

After looking around one more time, he was about to call it quits head back to the hideout when he heard a strange noise. Looking around, he was in an open area in the district that was currently devoid of life. Looking across the open area, the Turian's eyes widen in surprise before closing them when a blue flash blinded his vision.

Blinking out the spot in his eyes. He turned back to where the flash accrued and was shocked by what he sees.

There lying on the ground was a person strangest heavy set of armor he'd ever seen. He couldn't figure out how it ended up here. From the shape of the hands, he could tell it was either an Asari or human. On its back were a pair of very heavy weapons, a rocket launcher of some sort and a long-barreled sniper rifle. In its right hand held another weapon, an assault rifle that reminded him of a human rifle before their discovery of Element Zero.

He then saw a strange object next to it. A big round metal ball with multiple antennas sticking out of it. For what purpose he did not know.

Before his thoughts could continue, the thing moved its metal hands under it and pushed itself off the round and unto a knee and then two both legs. It stood at around the same height as a Krogen weight if the creek in the metal floor indicated anything. It then turned its head towards me and felt a bead of sweat roll off my forehead.

The helmet face looked at me with its big yellow eyes and surprised me when a female voice spoke from within it.

_"What the fuck are you?"_

* * *

**Companion:**

**ED-E**

**Perks:**

**Rapid Reload**

**Mad Bomber**

**Ranger takedown**

**Sniper**

**Trigger Discipline**

**Intense Training: Strength +1**

**Hunter**

**Educated**

**Strength Implant**

**Gunslinger**

**Comprehension**

**Four Eyes**

**Toughness**

**Strong Back**

**Cowboy**

**ED-D enhance sensors**

**Commando**

**Pack Rat**

**Commander E Rank 5**

**Long Haul**

**Subdermal implant**

**Grim Reapers Spirit**

**Jury Rigging**

**Implant Y-3**

**Bug Stomper Rank Three**

**Camel of the Mojave**

**Lord Death**

**Tough Guy**

**Free Radical**

**Endurance Implant**

**Grunt**

**Big Brain**

**Reinforced Spine**

**Burden to Bear**

**Divide Savior**

**DNAgent**

**Marked**

**DNAvenger Rank 3**

**Khan Trick**

**Power Armor Training**

**Abominable**

**Elijah's Ramblings**

**Heartless**

**Animal Control**

**Hand Loader**

**Courier weapons & Mods:**

**Red Glare + "Alpha Strike," "Auto Launcher," "Far Sighting."**

**Lucky**

**War Club + "War Club Casings," "War Club Honors."**

**Anti-Material Rifle + "AT rifle custom bolt, ""AT rifle suppressor," "AT rifle carbon fiber parts."**

**Ranger Sequoia**

**All-American**

**Cosmic Knife-clean**

**Blood-Nap**

**Binoculars**

**Codac R9000**

**Big Mountain Transportalponder! "Broken."**

**Elijah's advanced LAER + "Prismatic lens," "Auxiliary recharge chip**

**Armor(s):**

**Remnant Power Armor (Body & Helmet)**

**Elite Riot Gear (Body & Helmet)**

**First Recon Berit**

**Rebreather mask**

**Authority Shades**


	2. Chapter 1

**Quick word before reading. For some stupid reason I've been warned that I've been place on the CU's list. Don't know why nor see reason why I'm there in the first place. I've got some of my stuff on other sights so maybe that's it. Or their just making a fuss because I've spoken out against them in reviews on stories to authors that have the same problem. **

**In any event to the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Also the Courier's power armor is like that of Fallout 4 and pipboy. Mainly because I like the way it was set up. **

* * *

Before the turian could get an answer out the armored being hunched forward and tore its helmet off revealing a second helmet underneath it. Now the vigilantly was more confused about what was going on. Why wear a second helmet under your first one? Looking at the second one, where the first one was made of steel, this was made out of different ceramics. It also had a gas mask that you see humans wear in their old entertainment vids that he has seen. He then watched it remove the second helmet and reveal the occupant inside.

It was a human female for sure, and she was puking her lunch.

*Bleg!* "Oh god, I hate teleporting!"* Blarg!* The human said between barfs. Garrus felt a little awkward standing there watching this but felt remembered the women's question from and stood where he was. This human had probably never met one of his kind before. Looking at how she suddenly appeared and the sight of her gear kind of reinforced that notion.

After half a minute of puking the women stopped and did a couple of spit intakes to get rid of the contents of her mouth. While he waited, he set his Omi-tools universal translator to open speaker in case she didn't have a translator herself. "Better?" He asked.

"Yeah..." The women said before standing back at full height. "Umm thanks for not attacking me while I was like that."

"I'm not that kind of guy to shoot a girl while she's down, and I'm a turian by the way. Name's Garrus, Garrus Vakarian may I ask what they call you, miss?" the newly named Garrus asked as he takes in her face.

She looked to be around his age, possibly in her late twenties early thirties. She had hard green eyes and fiery red hair that she pulled back to a bun, similar to what Ash had but more wild and unkempt. Her skin was tanned to light crispy brown as she looked like she saw a lot of sun in her life. She also had a bunch of old scars over her face that showed she was no stranger to combat if the amount I saw were of any indication.

"Courier," she replied.

"Courier?"

"I only give my name to people I trust, and Courier to those I don't know. It also is what people know me by where I'm from." Courier explained.

Garrus nodded his head in understanding her reason. He went by the nickname 'Arcangel' while here on Omega due to his good deeds. "That's fair, may I ask how did you appear out of nowhere just now?"

The Courier looked like down at her hand and saw what's left of the Big Mountain Transportalponder! "Oh, that's not good." She then looked up at the turian then finally took note of her surroundings and noted that she was not at the Sink in Big Mountain. "This is even worse. Where the hell am I?"

"You're on Omega," Garrus answered as he looked to see the general confusion over the woman's face. "It's a large mining station that is out in Terminus systems. Full of mercenary gangs, slavers and the scum of the galaxy. But this place also holds a lot of innocents on board that got caught here trying to get a new life out in the frontier. So it's not all bad." He explained.

The explanation didn't put Courier at ease as to what the alien had said she wasn't in Arizona nor was she on Earth but more than likely on the other side of the galaxy! She was somewhat out of her depth here as she didn't know what to do. She still had her weapons, armor, and Pipboy to work with plus she ED-E... Wait, ED-E!

Looking down, she saw the eye-bot still laying on the ground. Crouching down, she booted up ED-E's systems.

Garrus stepped to the side a little bit to get what Courier was doing as she suddenly crouched down and started tinkering with the strange steel ball that appeared with her. He got his answer when said ball shot off the ground with a start and hovered at eye level with them.

BEEP. BEEB. It sounded.

"ED-E. Diagnostics check," Courier ordered the machine.

BEEB...BEEB. BEEB... The Courier turned robot ED-E to the side and looked under it.

"Damn, it looked like you took a grenade to the underbelly. Mmmm yeah took some shrapnel to your weapons, cracked all the hell till I can get the materials to repair it. Till then hang back and stay in cover, understood?"

ED-E bobbed up, BEEB! BEEB! BEEB!

"Everything else looks to be in order, including your sensors and multipurpose tools so if I need anything or if trouble comes our way we should be good."

Garrus had been looking back and forth between the two and wondered what's the story behind all this, then remembered why he was here again and checked his Omni-tool. Sidonis was still nowhere to be seen and felt something was wrong with the whole operation. What's worse is the single from his squad's hideout just stopped transmitting. His thoughts were interrupted when the sound of heavy footfalls approached him. Looking up, he saw the mysterious human now in front of him. "I may not know your kind, but I know a worried look when I see one. What's happening?"

Garrus weighed his options. Sidonis was a no show, and the rest of his men could be in danger. Plus there was this massive armored individual with big guns in front of him. "Look, I don't have a lot of time. Something came up, and I can't raise the rest of my men, so here are your choices. Either follow me, and I can help you the best I can after I find the rest of my men or you can leave and find your way around. Like I said it's your choice."

The Courier felt a familiar feeling pass through her. One that she been touched many times in the Mojave when something came up. "I've got nowhere else to be right now, and I don't even know where I am. I might as well follow you," she answered.

Garrus face members twitch. "You've only known me for a few minutes, and you're going to trust me?"

"Since you haven't drawn a weapon on me the whole time I've been here so I can say you have a better head on your shoulder than most and hold yourself up to a better cause," Courtier's reply. Garrus smile, or what counted as a smile for a turian as he liked this Courier a little more. "So why don't you tell me the situation as we move?"

"Agreed, follow me," the turian said.

The Courier put her two helmets back on and fell in behind her new companion. Garrus motioned her over to some sort of car like she's seen a bunch of times before, only that it works. When they got in, she became surprised that they started flying. She shook off the shock and began to listen to Garrus as he told his story.

Garrus explained that he used to be some lawman from a place called the Citadel, but quit due to all the rules he had to follow as criminals were using the system they put together to get themselves out of trouble only to cause more problems later on. The turian got so fed up with the bureaucracy that Garrus quit and came to Omega some time ago, then started to try and do some good on his own. The more he explained his cause to the Courier, the more it sounded a bit like what she did at the beginning of her journey to hunt down Benny. Then he explained that he ended up forming a squad of men under him that followed his example in doing the right thing: former mercenary's that wanted to atone, old cops in the like. It wasn't too dissimilar to how she found some of the people that became her friends and companions in the wastelands. Now they were heading to their hideout because he couldn't get ahold of them. Flying around the next bend, they could see why.

"Spirits no!" Garrus said as he looked over his teams compound.

Gunfire poured over the bridge where the main entrance as he could see the merc band colors of the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack firing at his team. He pulled the aircar around the back towards the garage and landed harshly.

Courier never flew before, so the rough landing made her a little queasy but steeled her nerves for the upcoming flight. The canopy opened, and she watched the turian jumped out and ran toward the door down at the end of the gauge. Following him, I pulled out Red Glare and prepared herself for another fight.

Following his past two sets of doors and a flight of stairs, we came upon a grim sight. What must have been Garrus's team had been wiped out. There were several aliens I did not recognize from the group. Some were turians like Garrus; some looked like intelligent geckos in heavy armor. A few looked like as pretty as a feral ghoul. There were also humans mixed in the mess which confused the Courier as questions started popping up at a ridiculous rate. Number one being, 'where the hell did I end up?'

Looking around, she spotted Garrus crouched down next to two body's, both in similar blue armor to himself. The Courier watched as he closed their dead eyes of what must be his squad. She was about to say something to him when we were alerted to more gunfire coming from the top balcony. Running back up the star way and over a living area, we spotted two more of Garrus squad but were in really rough shape. Looking past them and down at the bridge was a blob of yellow, red, and blue colored enemies firing wildly at them.

"Garris get your men back. I'll provide them a distraction!" Courier said as she raised Red Glare. The turian nodded and rushed over while the waste lander started raining fire on the mercenaries.

The sudden barrage of rockets supplied the mercenaries as fast-moving explosive missiles rained down on them. With this many broke ranks and ran back towards the safety of a deployable barricade. Those that didn't quickly met their end in a firing explosion.

The Courier reloaded Red Glare twice before she switched it out for her AT rifle. She didn't know what the armor of these things was like but wasn't taking the chance as she loaded it up with AP rounds.

Garris dragged Butler and Ripper, the last two members of his squad that were still alive. They were in bad shape as he laid them in the back room.

Butler's yellow armor matted in blood from his stomach down. Tears ran down his eyes as he clutches a hand over it. From the medic scanner on his Omi-tool showed massive damage to his insides and worsened as his stomach had been punctured spilling digestive acid. Ripper's barriers held up but didn't save her from the multitude of shots that trailed her left side. She was bleeding out fast, and no amount of Medi-gel he had on him could save either of them. As by the time his scanner finished its function, they both had passed on to the next.

It had felt like a lead weight had just dropped down his stomach. He had failed them, all of them. The team he led since coming to Omega were lost to him.

Before he wallowed in self-pity, he reminded himself that a battle was still going on.

The turian heard the sounds of a firefight still happening outside and readied his sniper rifle. Garris reached where his new friend had set herself up with the big gun she had on her back now in her hands. Now that he got a good look at her weapons, they were weapons from human history from the last two centuries, like the two revolvers that she had on her legs and the old marksmen rifle on her back. It took a moment for Garris to recognize that she was using an old-style Anti-material rifle. Weapons that all used the old bullets instead of Mass Effect rounds.

He watched as Courier fired a round that hit one of the Blue Suns grunts. The shot hit shattered his barriers and tore through his armor, leaving a bloody mess behind.

"Damn, for a weapon that uses outdated ammunition that thing can back a punch," Garris commented as he set up near women with his rifle.

"Outdated?" The Courier said in mid-confusion. "If my weapon is outdated, then so are these guys armor and tactics. So far every guy that I've shot since being here walks out in the open like their tough shit. I mean come on, Legion boys had the decency to take cover when being fired at and these guys are just walking out to die like useless robots, hell they even have a few of them in the mix that I've taken so far!" She said before firing the last round and reloaded.

"How are you for ammo?" Garris asked as he sighted on a Blood Pack Vorcha.

The Courier thought for a moment before answering her new unwilling companion. "I was in a major engagement before ending up here. I'm almost exhausted all my handheld explosives and used quite a bit of my heavy ammunition. My ammo for my assault rifle is holding up, and I have plenty for my pistols and the AT rifle. Plus I still have a few things ED-E has in his storage locker that I can pull out when need be." She thumbed over to where the eyebot was lazily floating. "Plus, ED-E has a few built-in all-purpose tools and supplies that can I can use craft more ammo when I'm running low."

Garris looked at the Couriers floating robot again with renewed interest. "That is one handy robot."

"Yeah, ain't he great?" Courier said before firing again, taking out another Blue Sun's mercenary. "What's the plan now? I'm not one to shy away from a fight, but the odds are not in our favor here." She asked.

Garris thought about it as he the two of them gunned down the tide of Mercenaries. There across the bridge was three of Omegas main players that are off to kill him. After months of major strikes against them, slavers, and pirates of the Terminus systems all sent out to kill him. He knew they would be after him and been preparing for it with the thought of his team being alive at his side as they had supplies to hold out against an all-out assault for days. But now that it was just him and this woman that he had no idea of what training she has but knows how to handle herself.

"With us showing up the mercs will be shoring up their defenses and creating a perimeter around the place to keep us from leaving." The turian explained.

"So we can't leave the same way we came in?" Courier asked as grain size shots pepper the pilier she hid behind.

"Exactly," Garris said. "And the only other way to get out is to cross the bridge and lose them through Omega's underground."

"The same bridge that all the mercs are pouring through?" Garris nodded. "Damn...well wouldn't be the first hairy struggle I have been a part of, remind me to tell you how I crashed a dinner party full cannibals on Vegas Strip."

Garris paused to look at the armored women. He knew Las Vegas is a large city on the Human homeworld of Earth and is considered by humans to be the gambling central in Alliance space, filled with many casinos and crime to fill them. Now he was going to make sure they survive this because he wanted to hear this story for himself.


	3. Chapter 2

The skycar banked and went in for a landing as they had arrived at their destination. Shepard, along with Zaeed and Miranda, exited the car and began their mission. A vigilante named Archangel had been razing all kinds of hell on the mercenary groups on Omega. The file that Cerberus has on him showed that he was a deadly shot and tech expert. Something that he could use against the Collectors when they come across them.

Walking up a Blue Sun batarian was waiting for them. "It's about time they sent me someone who looks like they can fight. They tell you what we're up against?"

"Vaguely," Shepard answered. "Just that you have Archangel Cornered."

"We wouldn't get many hires if everyone knew the truth." The batarian directed them towards a nearby wall that had an Eclipse grunt crouched down. "Archangel's holed up in a building at the end of the boulevard over there He's got superior position, has only one guy left from his squad with him that's packing some major heat and the only way in is over a very exposed bridge. It's a killing ground. But they're getting tired and have been mistakes. We'll have them soon enough."

"You must have a plan in place already?"

The merc nodded. "A small team is waiting to infiltrate his hideout, but we need to draw Archangel's and his man's fire so they can move in."

"And us Freelancers…"

The batarian continued. "Exactly, you'll be part of a distraction team. Head straight over the bridge and keep Archangel busy so the infiltration team can sneak in behind him."

Zaeed then blasted the batarian, "That's goddamn suicide!"

The batarian did nothing other than shrug his shoulders at the veteran Mercenary. "Pretty much. But you three look like you can handle it. Head up to the boulevard and get to the third barricade. Talk to Sergeant Cathka. He'll tell you when to go in."

"We'll find the Sargent then," Shepard said.

"Good idea. Watch yourself out on the boulevard. Those two have killed a lot of out there already." He finished before Turing and walked away.  
When the batarian was out of earshot, Zaeed laughed, "In's going to be easy. Out's gonna be a bitch."

"He's right," Miranda agreed. "We need to find a way to even the odds."

"The Mercenary groups have been utilizing a combination of heavy mechs and gunships," EDI informed them. "Weakening them before leaving will improve your chances."

"Thanks, EDI," Shephard said. He was a little hesitant on taking on an A.I. installed onboard his new ship but had been a boon to the crew as time has passed.  
The first room they entered held the leaders of the Eclipse mercs overviewing the assault plans. "As the first wave goes in, the infiltration team will attempt to take Archangel by surprise. I don't expect much from the freelancers. When they fail, we're up next. The light mechs will go first. If it's not enough, then we send in the heavy. Be prepared."

As the meeting continued, Shephard saw a datapad off to the side. Feeling nosey, he grabbed it and found some rather juicy intel, practically about Aria. 'Aria would most definitely like to read this and would more than likely be thankful for learning this.' Swiping the data, they exited the room to a hallway. At one end held the Eclipse heavy mechs that were left unintended. The soldier smiled as he signaled Miranda over to the console used for programming the YMIR's IFF software.  
Moments later, Miranda broke through the weak security encryption on the computer and reprogrammed its friend-foe system. Zaeed liked that. "That's gonna blow up pretty well in their faces."

Continuing, they passed the Blood Pack group as none of the three wanted to be around the big group of vorcha without any breathing equipment on.  
They found the gunfire loudest in an open area filled with barricades. Shepard and the team watched as a vorcha peeks over the wall only to get his whole head turning into a pile of bloody chunks and paste.

"Damn, I wonder what the hell he's using that could do that and where can I get one," Shepard asked as he looks at the now decapitated vorcha.

"An Anti-martial rifle most likely if it can do that. Will need to be careful when crossing the bridge, Commander." Miranda advised.

"Agreed," Shephard nodded as they ducked under the barricade to avoid any unnecessary crossfire between them, Archangel and the mercs.  
Shepard noticed a Blue Sun batarian entering one of the nearby doors. Zaeed seemed interested in finding out who was leading the suns, and from what they had seen were the ones running this attack.

Zaeed walked over and got a peek inside before the door closed on him before returning. "learn anything, Zaeed?" Shepard asked the veteran Mercenary.

"Yeah, the guy running this shit show is a batarian named Tarak. We've crossed paths a few times." Zaeed began explaining. He doesn't trust anyone out of his outfit and more so outside the Suns. Having two rival merc bands helping in this assault means he must be desperate to take down this Archangel we're after. Other than that, he's as ruthless like any other batarain you'll meet in the Suns. They were talking about the gunship before the door closed."

Shephard thanked him for the info before they continued. They walked past the second barricade and went to where the freelancers of the attack were gathering and walked to nearest freelancer. He stood in gray armor with his back against the wall right side of the barricade. "I'm looking for Cathka," he said.

The freelancer looked over at him. "You and me both, pal. He's over there, working on the gunship." He jerked his head over to where a gunship stood with a few Blue Suns behind it. "We go over the bridge when he gives the word. Go talk to him if you want, but I'm in no hurry."

Shephard nodded and walked over to the side of the gunship where some freelancers stood. "Cathka?"

The freelancer pointed behind him on the other side of the gunship. There stood a Blue Suns merc, completely armored and helmeted too. He held a tool in his hand, more than likely using it to fix whatever damage was done to the gunship. He made a gesture with his unused hand that made the freelancers walked off. He deactivated the tint of his visor it was clear he was a batarian. "And its Sargent Cathka. You must be the group Salkie mentioned. You're just in time."

"Salkie?"

"You met him when you were dropped off," Cathka set his tool down and pulled out a cigarette. "He radioed to say you were coming. Said you three would stand out more than the rest of the freelancers. Anyway… The infiltration team is about to give the signal. Archangel and his friend won't know what hit them. Got any questions? This might be your last chance." He said as he lit his cigarette.

"The bridge the only way in?" Shephard asked as he spotted a few maps nearby.

"Until the Gunship's working again or the blasters finish the tunnels," Cathka explained as patted the gunship he been working on. "Look, we got a plan. We don't need you trying to come up with any great ideas. Just do your damn job, collect your credits, and go home."

"So, we jump the barricade and head straight for Archangel's building?"

"And try not to get killed too fast. You're only a distraction as long as your alive. You don't have to make it all the way across. Just keep Archangel watching that bridge. The Infiltration team will do the rest."

"You leading the attack?"

The batarian barked out a laugh at that. "Tarak doesn't pay me to fight. I just plan the attacks and fix the damn gunships. You, freelancers, get the privilege of-"  
The nearby terminal started up with a burst of noise, getting everyone's attention. "Targets insight. We're a go." A voice declared.

"Check. Bravo team-go, go, go!" Cathka replied.

The sound of feet hitting the ground filled the air, not in unison like discipline soldiers but of many kinds all working together. If Shepard and the others looked behind them, they would see the freelancers rushing over the first barricade and onto the bridge.

"Archangel and his friends have quite the surprise waiting for them," Cathka said smugly as he turned away from the terminal. "But that means no more waiting for me." He tapped his visor, putting the tint back on as he turned to the gunship. "Gotta get her back to a hundred percent before Terak decides he needs her again.  
Seeing the tool Cathka had left alone, picking up, he walked up beside the Sargent getting his attention. "You work too hard," Shephard said before jabbing the tool into Cathka's suit, frying the batarian in his own suit. The sound of weapons fire covered up the sound of the Sargant's screams as he fell over twitching before dying.

Now came the hard part.

Crossing the bridge to Archangel was going to be easy. If they didn't fire at the freelancers that were trying to keep Archangel at bay, they could sneak around them ad take them out when they were out of snipers firing arch, where they can take out the remaining freelancers.

"Right, let's give these guys a surprise of our own," Shepard said. When the three jumped the barricade, they were greeted with the sight of more than a few dead bodies littered the ground.

Shepard had to blink at the carnage that was done here. Many of the bodies were torn to shreds or blasted apart, and their corpses left out to rot. The Commander's nose twitched at the scent of chard flesh and wondered why he was only now just smelling this much death? He couldn't ponder this long as the line of living meat shields that stood in front of him were dwindling fast.

They rushed behind some of the freelancers and made it to the other side. When they did, the few freelancer's that were left paused and let out a breath of relief. Shephard was about to take care of them when the first merc entered the building followed by the others.

Shepard was about to follow behind to take care of them until he was pushed back from the sound of explosions. Blinking his eyes from the dust flying, he looked and saw the freelancers that were in front of him get blasted to bits by walking into some kind of proximity mine.

"Bloody hell, that was close!" Zaeed said as he shook his head.

"Proximity mines. Archangel or his friend must have planted them to keep the mercs out of their blind spots." Miranda explained.

The three moved on into the building and began looking around their surroundings for more traps. They moved up the stairs and saw the infiltration team planting some explosive to the door where Archangel was at.

Seeing the opportunity in front of him. Shepard leveled his weapon and fired at the explosive the engineer was planting. The reaction was what the N7 soldier was hoping for as the device detonated, killing anyone around.

Looking around, they noticed no other contacts in the area as they swept their surroundings just in case. It looked clear, and there was no going back now.  
Entering the area where Archangel was at, they spotted a turian in blue and black armor with a helmet on and mantis sniper rifle in hand looking out over the bridge.

"Archangel?" Shepard said to get his attention.

The turian raised a claw to wait a moment. Peaking out Shepard saw a surviving freelancer was trying to hide. He poked his head out of cover for just a moment before receiving a shot to the head by the expert sniper.

With that done, the vigilante rose from his spot and pulled off his helmet, much to Shepard's surprise as the familiar turian. "Shephard? Thought you were dead." Garrus said as he sat on a nearby couch to rest up.

"Garrus?! What are you doing here?" Shephard said in shock but also joy at seeing one of his friends alive.  
"Just keeping my skills sharp. A little target practice," he replied in a tired voice.

"You ok?"

"Been better, but it sure is good to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard work."

"How'd you manage to piss off every major merc organization in the Terminus Systems?" Shepard asked his old comrade. He knew the former C-sec detective had a habit of pissing people off but not to this extreme.

"It wasn't easy. I really had to work at it. I'm amazed that they teamed up to fight me. They must really hate me," the turian chuckled.

"Since when did you start calling yourself Archangel?" Shepard said with a raised eyebrow and smile. He watched as the turian almost looked embarrassed.

"It's just a name the locals gave me. For all my good deeds. I don't mind it, but please …it's just 'Garrus' to you."  
"What are you doing on Omega?" Shepard switching topics.

Garrus looked down before answering. "I got fed up with all the bureaucratic crap on the Citadel. Figured I could do more good on my own." He said before looking back up at Shephard. "At least it's not hard to find criminals here. All I have to do is point my gun and shoot."

"Well, we got here, but I don't think getting out is going to be easy," Shepard said as he leveled with his friend.

Garrus nodded in agreement as he got up from his spot and moved back to the window overlooking the bridge. "No, it won't. That bridge has saved our lives funneling those witless idiots into my scope. But it works both ways." He pointed out. "They'll slaughter us if we try to get out that way."

"So, we just sit here and wait for them to take us out?" Miranda said in her class half empty tone.

"It's not so bad," Garrus replied. "This place has held them off so far." He said as he moved towards the window overlooking the bridge, "And with the three of you… I suggest we hold this location, wait for a crack in their defenses, and take our chances. Not a perfect plan, but it's a plan."

"If we fight as a team, will hold them off," Shepard said with confidence in his voice.

"You're right Their numbers won't help them here anyway." Garrus nodded in agreement.

"As long as we can keep them back from setting off any more of my satchel charges then we should be good." Said an unknown voice.

The four turned to the sound of a synthesized female voice only for three of the four to rear back in surprise at the unknown mech that came through the door behind them.

Shephard had seen many kinds of armor throughout his career in the Alliance and in life but never had seen a set like this before. It was some mech, no, a power suit, power armor. He could see a black body mesh under the layer of armor plates. The most striking thing to see was the orange/yellow glow it had for the helmet's eyeholes.

"Otherwise we're going to be turning this firefight into a brawl at best," said the women in the suit.

Shepard also noticed the really long and really outdated sniper rifle that she was carrying in her armored hands. "I think we found who was using that AT rifle,"  
"Bloody hell, and I thought my Jessie was an old rifle," Zaeed said in slight surprise.

"She may be two centuries old but still fires true and kills whoever is in front of her," the heavily armored women said as she walks over to us and stands next to Garrus. "The downstairs have been resealed. And if they do get through, I left a few surprises for them." She told the turian before looking back at us. "So, this the group you stopped me from shooting? Well, I can see two of them are good for heavy combat. Her, on the other hand," she pointed Shepard and Zaeed before at Miranda. "Looks more ready for a night out to town than a war zone."

Miranda didn't say anything much to Shepard's surprise and herd Zaeed snickers to himself.

"Don't antagonize the help, Courier," Garrus said before turning back to the soldier. "Shepard, meet my friend by chance, Courier."

"Courier?" Repeated Shepard, with a raised eyebrow.

"It's what my job was before all this began and let's leave it at that," Courier replied before turning back to the door. "ED-E, get up here, we need those sensors of yours!" She shouted. A moment later, a new robot appeared through the doorway that reminded looked like a spinoff of humanities first satellite, Sputnik.

"Well that's something you don't see every day," Shepard commented at the new addition to the group.

The new hovering robot let out a few beeping radio fritzing sounds before it stopped and floated next to Courier.

"Since we're all here, let's see what there up to," Garrus said as he, walked back to the balcony. "Hmm… it looks like they know their infiltration team failed."

"What do we have?" Courier asked as she pulled up her rifle. When she turned, Shepard saw more weapons from humanities past on her. Some of which if she sold them would get her enough credits to buy a light cruiser.

"Scouts. Eclipse, I think." Garrus answered her before offering the scope to Shepard. "Here take a look."  
He took a look through the scope and saw LOKI mechs coming over the barricade and down the boulevard. "That looks like a lot more than just scouts."

"Indeed. We better get ready." The turian said, taking back the gun.

Courier fired her big gun right then, "One less to worry about."

"Courier and I will stay up here. We can do a lot of damage from this vantage point." Garrus said before turning to him. "You…you do what you do best. Just like old times, Shepard." Shepard nodded than waved the others back towards the stairs.

They went back to the downstairs living area and positioned themselves up and started eliminating the first wave of robots that came at them.


	4. Chapter 3

"So that was your old boss?" Courier asked as she loaded incendiary rounds into her rifle. "He seems alright."

"Glad you approve," Garrus said as he set up his rifle at the bridge.

"What are the chances of us getting out now?" Courier asked.

"Shepard has always been good at what he does. He'll see us through," Garrus said with unflinching confidence as he destroyed another mech. Courier noticed this.

"That some confidence you got there, will it be enough? We still got a lot of targets left." Courier shouldered her rifle and sighted an Eclisp Merc that was hiding behind a mech. It didn't as he was suddenly missing his head a moment later.

"I've been on more than a few missions with the guy. He doesn't know how to fail." Garrus replied as he took down two more of their LOKI mechs with a pair of impressive headshots.

Courier heard the steel in the alien's voice and smiled under her helmet. Fighting beside Garrus reminded her of Boone in a lot of ways, sniper skills notwithstanding. During a firefight, neither of the two talked much and were reserve to end fights quickly.

A Mass effect round bounced off her helmet. She needed to refocus on what she was doing. The Courier could think about friends from the past later. Dropping low, she pulled out an MFC grenade and twisted the top to prime before tossing at the group that was shooting up at us. The little yellow cylinder bounced once before detonating in front of two mechs and one merc with a missile launcher, destroying the machines and turning the mercenary into green goo.

While the sniper pair had been shooting any targets from afar, Shepard's group had been on the ground floor and keeping anyone from coming through the front. Shepard and Zaeed had their assault rifles out and firing any mercs that came close while Miranda shot out her biotics with a throw to keep them out. All three of them were surprised by the sudden green explosion from the bridge.

"What kind of shit was that?" Asked Zaeed.

"I think that came from our mystery person in power armor," Shepard replied as he spotted the pile of goo. "Whatever it is she is using, I don't want to be on the other end of it."

"We should get a sample of what she's using in those explosives. It could be useful to Cerberus." Shepard shook his head a bit at Miranda's blunt loyalty to the organization that is funding them. He said nothing as he fired at an Eclisp Vanguard that was making a run across the bridge.

Only for her head to snap back at an angle that neck wasn't supposed to bend and her body jerking back like she been closed lined before hitting the ground.

"Anyone have an explanation of how a weapon as old as the one our armored friend is using is taking down people with mass effect fields like they were nothing?" Shepard said to his two followers.

"The thought of something as old as that gun taking down opponents with superior tech is baffling me, Shepard," the Cerberus operative replied before sending an Overload at a mech.

"Mass over speed."

The Solder and operative looked over at the old merc with surprised looks. Zaeed gunned down a pair of Eclipse troopers before ducking down and seeing the two looking at him with faces wanting an explanation. "Back in my early days working the DMZ's, some radicals were using old pre mass effect era weapons that were decades old. It baffled the higher-ups as to why they were using them. More so, when a few of our guys ended up dead because of them. One guy figured it was because our shields couldn't take the dense mass that was bashing against us."

Shepard was getting what Zaeed was saying. "You're saying that because of the rounds are heavier. They can hit harder when they hit shielded targets?" He simplified.

"Like a god's damn sledgehammer to the chest." Zaeed nodded.

"Or a rifle that's firing heavy concussive shots without the need for a cooldown."

The thought of something so outdated being used in today's and trumping over some techs ideals is something Shepard never thought he'd see. But he guessed with all that has happened to him since becoming a Specter craziness seems to find a way to him. Still, at least it didn't make for a dull life.

"_Commander, they've deployed the heavy mech," _Garus reported over the comm.

"That problem should take care of itself." Shepard looked around the corner and saw the YMIR mech turn around with its guns pointed at the Eclipse. It then started reacting exactly as Miranda programmed and started firing at anyone it saw. The mercenaries were entirely caught off guard and started shooting back at it. With many of them already on the bridge and with no cover, they were cut quickly cut down.

They heard heavy footsteps from behind, turning they saw the mysteries Courier walked over to them with her strange floating robot. "Your handy work, I take it?" She said to them to which Shepard nodded. "Nicely done."

"Thanks, what are you doing down here?" Shepard asked the armored women.

Courier walked over to one corner of the area they were fighting in and reached down and pulled out a small head held brown package with a red light on the side. She flipped a pair of switches on the side, turning the light off. "Satchel charge," Courier said as she lifted the now disarmed explosive. "Had a few of these placed so we can watch our back better. When Garrus told me a few of them detonated, I asked if he knew which ones. He said only the two upfront but not the one in the back. Figure I take care of this little surprise, so it doesn't go up in your face by accident."

"I appreciate that," Shepard said with a smile. "I don't feel like having my legs blown off while in the middle of a mission."

"Not a problem," Courier replied before taking the explosive and putting it in the floating robot as it seems to have a storage compartment.

"Don't think I've ever seen a robot like yours before. Where did it get it from?" Shepard asked curiously.

"ED-E?" Courier said in mild surprise. "Found him within an old office with an older gentleman that ran an old delivery service. He had it for a while and was going to get someone to fix it up but never got around to it. Said if I fixed it, I could have it. Been a helpful little guy ever sents." She explained. Before Shepard could comment, Garrus spoke up through the Comm.

"_Looks like the mech took out Jaroth," _he said with vicious satisfaction. Which sounded odd coming from the former C-Sec officer. "_But that YMIR mech has turned around and headed to towards us."_

"Looks barely functioning," Zaeed commented as Shepard couldn't help but nod in agreement.

It was still standing, but its armor was mostly gone. Scorch marks covered its once white paint, and loose panels were now showing off its insides. Indeed, it looked like it was on its last legs.

"I got this." Turning to the Courier, Shepard watches her switch out its boxy magazine for a new one in her old AT-rifle. The N7 Soldier felt like something was tricking his eyes. In one fluid motion bearly over a second, she lifted the big weapon and fired off a single shot at the approaching mech. The result, the YMIR's head went missing,

Starting up its self-destruct initiative.

"Take cover!" Shepard ordered before the thing went up. He and his team hunkered down with Miranda behind the wall and the men under a barrier, Courier...didn't move.

The YMIR detonated, and the blast wave swept the area. Shepard clenched his teeth as his body shook. When it was over, he looked over his cover and saw the bridge was scorched black. The Commander then turned to the Courier.

"Aw, I love the smell of fusion explosions in the morning!" The strange woman proudly proclaimed as she casually reaches over her shoulder and "casually" picks up a severed hand that landed on her armored shoulder plate.

Shepard was about to say something, but Miranda beat him to it.

"Was that necessary?" Miranda said in irritation.

The Courier looked at the women, then rased up the detached hand up to eye level and pushed its middle finger up. This infuriated the Cerbures operative to no end, while Zaeed laughed at the gesture, and Shepard shook his head in disbelief of this woman. It was then Gurras contacted them.

"_Looks like that's all of them. Come find me before they regroup." _Hearing the call, the four of them doubled back upstares where they saw Garrus waiting for them.

"You're kicking ass Shepard, they bearly touched us. And we got Jaroth in the process. I've been hunting that little bastard for months." The turian said with much satisfaction.

"Why were you after him?" The Commander asked.

"He's been shipping tainted eezo all over Ciditel Space. Half the goods I seized at C-sec came from his team on Omega." Garrus explained. "I took out a big shipment a while back and killed his top lieutenant in the prosses. Not surprising he decided to work with the other mercs after that."

"I say good riddance, that guy had been sending wave after wave of robots at us. Was getting tired of it to be quite honest and wondered just how many they got in stored back there?" Courier commented.

"We still got Blood Pack, and Blue Suns left. Think we can make a break for it?" Shepard asked.

"Maybe. Let's see what they're up too." Garrus said as he and Courier walked over to the balcony. Courier raised her weapon and looked down the scope while Garrus sued his visor to zoom in.

"Some of the Blue Suns are leaving their posts with Blood pack filling them in with their troops. Plus, they reinforce that wall they got over there with some extra guns," Courier reported.

"But they're not crossing over the bridge yet. What are they waiting for?" Garrus said in wonder before a sever explosions went off, and an alarm started going off.

"What the hell was that?" Miranda asked as she looks downstairs.

Garrus brought out his Omi-tool and typed in a few commands. "Damn it, they've breached the lower levels. Well, they had to use their brains eventually. "

Several other explosions soon followed, shaking the room around them.

"And they found the presents I left down there," said Courier. "That should buy us a few minutes."

"You better head on down there, Shepard. Courier and I will keep the bridge clear." Shepard nodded this arrangement.

"How do I get to the basement?"

Garrus pointed back at the stairway. "Go down a level. The basement door is located on the west side of the main room, behind the stairs. I'll radio directions if you need help... But you've got to get down there quick." The turian instructed. "Good luck."

"Wait!" Courier stopped them before pulling out a satchel charge. "I left a few of these down there and there motioned censored. They will blow up in your face if you are not careful, so watch your step," she warned.

"How do we get passed them?" Shepard asked.

"Their sensors are standard and can be tricked by staying low to the ground, but the trigger is what you have to watch out for. Ones it detects you'll have bearly a second to get out of the blast range."

"Can we disable them?" Miranda questioned.

"Press down and hold this button before flipping this switch here down. If you go ahead and flip the switch without pressing down the button, the satchel charge will pre detonate and kill yea for trying." Courier pointed at the controls of the explosive in her hand as she gives the instructions.

"Thanks for the heads up," Shepard thanked the women before turning around and leading his team downstairs.

Courier went to the ledge and to set up. Vorcha across the bridge were gathering up for another attack on them.

"Out of all the things that I've fought, these guys sure are competing on being the most annoying!" Courier said as she goes and shoots one that had its head out before blowing it to meat chunks. "I mean, if you hit them anywhere that is not the head, they just freakishly regenerate from it. Where the fuck does evolution come into play to allow that?" Garrus nodded with me.

"I don't get it either, and that's only one of the dangers about them. When they come at you close, they just go at you like a raving animal." He fired at a few of Blood Pack troopers before his Omni-tool lit up. "Damn their almost through."

"Get to the console and close that shutter before they get through!" Garrus called Shepard over the comm. A few moments later, a "Beeb" alerted that one of the shutters have been closed. "There's two more shutters. Get them closed fast!"

"Here, they come!" Courier said as she switches to the _All-American_.

Over two dozen Blood Pack troopers had jumped the barricade and were running across the bridge. The two began firing, downing a few as they crossed the bridge. Garrus focused more on headshots while Courier poured as much led downrange as she can for suppression. Luckily there weren't too many of them...yet.

Changing mags, Courier saw that she was starting to get light on match loaded rounds. When she first got to this place, she was well off with a hefty sum of three thousand rounds after her retreat from the Legion. After constant fighting and having to use ED-E's onboard ammo press a few times. She was down to nearly two hundred, and she was out of material to build more. On her EFS, she spotted a few red dots coming from behind them. Rushing from her spot towards the window overlooking the living area. There, at the door leading out on the other side of the kitchen, stood a few Vorcha messing with door controls. Not giving them the time of day, she pulled out another MFC grenade and threw at the center of the group. The blast sent one flying out the window and turned two of them to goo.

"What was that?" Garrus yelled over the incoming fire from the bridge.

"Some got by and were going for the door in the back of the kitchen!" Courier replied as she fires at another Blood Pack trooper. But notices something about the door, sparks were flying flew it. "Garrus! We've got a problem!" The turian ran over to see what was happening and saw the door was being cut from the other side.

"Damn it. Get back here, Shepard. They're coming through the doors." Garrus said over his Omni-tool. The door opened, and three Krogen and several Vorcha walked in.

"Raaah! Rip them to shreds!" One of them ordered. The leader by the looks of him with the heavy armor he wore. The Blood Pack trooper next to him went down with a headshot from Garrus.

"Another old friend of yours?" Courier said playfully.

"Yea, one that I can do without."

It was then Shepard's team had come back from their trip downstairs and started firing on the Blood Pack. But they were too slow as their leader, and two Blood Pack Warriors came running up the stairs.

Courier holstered All-American and drew her war club and Blood-nap in her right and left hands, respectfully. She learned early on that most of her weapons were useless against the heavy armor Krogan wear. The only things that did seem to work were _Red Glare_ and her AM-rifle, with both of those options were off the table going in close quarters.

Courier saw the first warrior come through the door and charged in, tackling the Blood Pack Warrior to the wall. When he was pinned, she swung her war club repeatedly against the Krogan's head. Courier was quickly tackled by a second Warrior to the ground. She started thrusting upward with _Blood-nap_. But that only seemed to make the guy angrier as he stared throwing fists to beat her down. She held up an arm to stop the next swing when it connected. She pushed it aside, reached out to the alien's chest, and brought him into a headbutt.

Which she regretted a moment later as even with an Enclave helmet on, it still hurt. It also pissed off the Krogan more as he grabbed her helmet and headbutted her back.

If her brain had a voice again, it would be cursing her six ways to Sunday then all the way to the new year.

That headbutt slammed her back into the floor. It was like the time she got picked up by a Deathclaw and smashed into the dirt. Before anything else could happen, the alien above me suddenly started to float upward and began to be riddled with shots as Shepard and his team finally showed up.

Courier tried to get up to help but felt her world go vertigo as her hand slipped, and she fell back on the ground. She gritted her teeth as she pushed herself unto her belly before pushing herself and getting her feet under her. Note, she's doing this in power armor, which is challenging to do on account of how bulky it is.

Having gotten her feet under her, she saw the Blood Pack leader get firebomb by the yellow merc on Shepard's team. Followed by that strange blue space magic that chick in the catsuit was doing to throw him over to where the bunk beds were at. It was then the four of them together started firing a full load at him, tearing him to shreds.

"Rest in pieces!" The sacred merc on Shepard's team said after they were done.

Courier sighed in relieve now that that was over. She walked over to picked up her discarded weapons before going over where Garrus was standing and leaned up against a table.

The sniper saw her and put a claw on her shoulder. "You alright, Courier? That was some hit to the head you took."

She wasn't, as she now noticed a big crack in the HUD screen as pull up her health and showed a little vault boy with a bandaged head, and a pair of x's over the eyes. "I'll be okay in a bit, just need to sit down for a bit. That headbutt he gave me was a lot harder than what I was expecting." She reached up and pulled off her helmet and got a good look at the damaged it had on.

Shepard blinked when he saw Courier's face. She looked physically to be in her late twenties, but with the look in her eye made it look like as old as Zaeed's age.

"That's what you get for trying to go toe to toe with a Krogen." It was than Shepard, and his team walked up. "Thanks, Shepard. They would have had us if not for you."

"Yeah, Krogen almost had me if it wasn't for you guys," Courier said in kind as she puls out a stimpack and applies it to her neck. Feeling the pain raced as the cells in her body regenerate

"And we took out Garm and his Blood Pack. This day just keeps getting better and better. He was a tough son of a bitch."

"You've fought with him before?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah, we've tangled before. Caught him once alone. None of his gang to help him. I still couldn't take him out. I've never seen a Krogan regen that fast. He's a freak of nature." Garrus explained.

"**Was**, a freak of nature, Garrus," Courier corrected her alien friend. That made the turian laugh a little.

"Yeah. Anyway, he just kept at it till his Vorcha showed up. It was close, but I had to let him go," Garrus finished.

"Only the Blue Suns are left. I say we take our chances and fight our way out." Shepard said to the two.

Garrus rolled one of his shoulders. "I think your right. Tarak's got the toughest group, but nothing we haven't face before. Besides, he won't be expecting us to meet him head-on-" Garrus said shortly before everyone heard the roar of an engine followed by the sound of glass breaking.

"Heads up!" Miranda yelled as she and everyone else in the group took cover. Courier took a peek behind her cover and saw that Vertibird look alike with the big guns.

"Damn it! Garrus, I thought we took that thing out already?" Courier said as she reached back and pulled out Red Glare and loaded it up with high explosive rockets.

"It's not a hundred percent. We made sure of that!" Shepard said as he fired his pistol.

"There offloading troops!" Garrus calls out as several Blue Suns soldiers dropped in. Courier leveled Red Glare.

"I got this. Fire in the hole!" Courier shouted before she entered VATS. She first targets a Turian's left leg, then she switches over to a human left leg, and then shifted to a third target, and focused on Batarian named Jentha on my VATS' right leg. When she clicked for all three, she released VATS and sent a trio of rockets at them. The rapid-fire of mini-missiles seamed to catch them all by surprise as they were all lifted off the ground and sent back out the window they came in. One of them even landed on the window of the dropship before sliding off. That might may have been Jentha. She didn't have long to think it over as more repelled down.

Courier took cover and let the others fight it out with their guns. She had nearly a handful of rockets left, and despite her love for explosions, she needed to make them count.

"Their rappelling down the sidewall. Ground floor!" Garrus called out. Courier slung her Red Glare and pulled out Ranger Sequoia. She, along with one of Shepard's team, the women in the catgirl outfit, went over to the stairs.

There were a few of them as the wastelander counted a half a dozen with assault rifles coming at them. Courier entered vats and toggled the first merc with a two at 95%. The result was just as predicted with the first shot breaking the mercs shields and the second entering his head.

Miranda threw a throw at the first Blue Suns trooper she saw, sending him into the to the wall with a hard crunch. Her eyes flickered towards the power-armored women next to her when she displayed the incredible and rare feat of marksmanship with a horribly outdated hand cannon. As the two seemingly slaughter the mercenaries with biotics, gunfire, and improvise explosives, the Cerbures Operative kept glancing at the armored warrior. Her mind racing her memories on any files of this woman. Her weapons and armor alone would stand out in day and age. Nothing she thought of could connect this "_Courier,"_ to anything in Cerbures data files.

The Courier could practically _feel_ like she was being analyzed by the catsuit woman. She had a look like on her that just wanted to know everything around her and not be bothered by the consequences. Similar to the brains in the Think Tank of Big Mountain, real conformity thought. But that was not why Courier really wanted to be away from this woman as she did not look like she was some kind of thief.

No, despite her appearance, Courier knew when she first laid eyes on this individual that she was trouble. What was worse is she gives off vibes similar to one of Ceasers Frumentarii.

For now, she will do nothing. If this individual or the group she belongs to is anything like Caeser, then they will approach her first. Like last time she will analyze them and bring everything to light. It was how she took care of the Legion after all. Just a few well-placed blocks of C4, a couple of mini-nukes, a quick slash of a knife to the throat of the old man up top, and the most significant event that would decide the fate of the west was all it took.

A few minutes later, when the last one was taken out, a loud explosion came from the second floor where Shepard and Gurras were.

Both of them ran straight back upstairs just in time to see Shepard pulling Garrus into cover. From the amount of blood he was pooling, he wasn't going to last long without some significant medical assistance. Taking cover, Courier saw the gunship spraying and filling the room with bullets. The members of Shepard's team hid in makeshift cover and fired back when they were given the opportunity. Their shots were only damaging the or glancing the armor, not what she did to ground it last time.

Requiring maximum penetration, Courier pulled out her AM rifle and loaded it with her AP ammo before lining up her shot. Last time this thing came around, she damaged it by shooing rockets from Red Glare. Now she was going to see how durable that canopy is.

Taking a breath, she squeezed the trigger the AM rifle, sending a load shot into the view screen of the gunship. The result was very satisfactory as the round entered the cockpit and hitting the pilot.

They watched as the gunship jerk back and fly backward till it collides against the building behind it. The flying death-dealing machine starts to fall apart from the back forward as it loses altitude. Several more crashes were heard outside.

With that over, everyone gathered around their fallen friend. Shepard already kneeling over him and checking to see he was alive. The sound of a loud gasp from the turian gained everyone's attention with Shepard already calling out his name.

"Garrus! We're getting you out of here, Garrus, just hold on!" Shepard said as he started to apply first aid. "Radio Joker, make sure they're ready for us."

Courier stood nearby as she could only watch this happen. She wanted to help, but not knowing turian biology, she would likely be doing more harm than good. She also saw Garrus trying to grasp the barrel of his rifle.

* * *

'_So a spaceship, huh? Not what I thought one would look like, but then again who am I to judge things,' _Courier thought as she stood in the corner of the room that had a big table with an orange hologram of the ship with Shepard and two of his crew. The Commander was pacing with a worried look on his face while two others stood off on the other side of her. One was the catsuited woman now named Miranda, who is Shepards second in command. The black man named Jacob who turned out to be the armor of the ship. He also had a look of worry on his face while Miranda looked impassive about the situation, but her eyes continued to flicker in her direction.

We were all waiting to hear back from the ship's doctor about the situation with Garrus. Having heard that, he took a rocket to the face. No one spoke at first, but it was Jacob that broke the silence.

Commander. We've done what we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit." That made Shepard look even more worried about his friend. "The docs corrected with surgical procedures and cybernetics. Best we can tell' he'll have full functionality, but..."

Jacob stopped as everyone heard the door to the room open, and the alien of the hour walks right in sporting a new bandaged face.

"Shepard," greeted Garrus.

"Damn, tough sone of a bitch. Didn't think he be walking yet." Jacob said, sounding impressed. Courier to as she looked over the damage her friend had sported.

"Nobody would give me a mirror. How bad is it?" Garrus asked as he walks up to the table. Shepard just crosses his arms as he looks at his friend.

"Hell Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap so face paint on, and no one will ever notice." That made Garrus laugh but quickly stopped as it seems it made it hurt to do so.

"Oh, don't make me laugh. My face is barely holding together as it is."

The two then began to talk as Couror still paid attention but tuned in to her own little world. She has been going at this by ear and opportunity since the moment her teleporter gun had been damaged. She thought by helping Garrus, the first guy she found in this new world, would be a big help, and he has. Even if they were surrounded by mercs for the better part of a few days, they still kicked ass together. Plus, he kept his word on telling her everything she needed to know about the galaxy. But the more he spoke about it, the less thrilled she got.

"Ok, Courier. What to do with you?" Miranda said as everyone now looked at her.

"I'm just at a loss as you are. I haven't got an idea of who you people are and what you do here, so why not start with some questions." Everyone agreed to this as to not try and piss off the seven-foot power armor chick.

"Can we get a name? I feel like it would lead to some confusion for others if we don't have something to call you." The Commander politely asked.

The Courier kept her face neutral while looking ahead. It wasn't an unreasonable request but not an easy one either. She had lost her name the night Benny shot her twice in the head and left her in a shallow grave. Thinking on a possible name she could give herself, one stood out that would work just fine.

"Call me... Amber."

* * *

**Yeah I decided to put a name for my Courier OC.**

**I figured it would make writing easer if I had a name instead of says "The Courier" or Courier Six over and over in a conversation. Also sorry that this had taken me so long to write this. Been working on my other story "The Summers Reaper." Check it out and put a review down on what you think about this story and "The girl with the Big Iron on her hip."**


	5. Chapter 4

Amber could feel the strain of her power armor as she pushed the finale crate into position.

"Well, that's the end of that."

Amber took a step back and admired her work. She was in Normaday's cargo bay. The Courier wasn't a fan of how cramped the spaceship felt in some of the rooms shed been in, so it was here that she was staying. To make things a little better for her, she pushed a few of the big orange crates together and made a nice little corner to give her some privacy. She also put in a cot and a makeshift workbench, along with a few tables to hold her things. ED-E was with her floating lazily by her bed as he waited for instruction.

Amber walked off to the side in her little corner and hit the release of her power armor and exited the frame. She stretched and arms and legs for a bit to work out the kinks. She had been fighting in that thing for longer then she liked. Walking in that thing for a few hours tends to make her body stiff. Amber had no idea how those Brotherhood of Steel guys could wear them all day and not feel like this. Looking down at herself, she was still in her elite riot gear, only without her duster. That thing would get caught in her power armor, and took it off whenever the Courier had it on. Ever since she found the riot armor in the Divide, she didn't want any other kind of armor. Walking over to ED-E, Amber opened up his storage unit and pulled out the armored duster and threw it on.

She then glanced over at the power armor suit. Amber was going to have to find some way of getting materials to build herself a power armor frame. They were rare enough in the Mojave and around New Vagus. She searched the whole desert and only came across them in the Brotherhood Bunker in Hidden Vally, the Enclave Remnant Bunker by Jakeups town, and the Lucky 38, where she and her friends built a few from the ground up. Veronica said it was due to the Brotherhood that the area around New Vagus was devoid of racks because they took them all, jerks. Because of that, whenever set of power armor she got, she had to take it somewhere to get it repaired instead of doing it herself.

Amber then began to organize her space. First, she took _Lucky _and _Ranger Sequoia_ from there holsters and sat them on the table. Then setting down _Blood-Nap_ and the Cosmic Knife, followed by her War Club that Amber got from the Dead Horses. Next, she then pulled _Red Glare _off her power armor, and carefully set it down, and repeating it with her custom Anti-Material Rifle.

ED-D then flew in next her and opened his storage compartment and allowed Amber to draw _All-American_ and Elijah's advanced LAER, setting them down as well. While he was there, she also grabbed her riot helmet too and placed it down next to _Lucky_.

With her weapons laid out, she began an inventory check on her remaining ammunition stores for everything. So far, she still had a bunch of the hand loaded ammo for her .357 and the 45-70 Gov't. _Lucky_ and _Ranger Sequoia. _The fighting had brought her her .50 cal stores down a bit as it took more than one to bring down some of the mercs that came after Garrus. The Match Hand Load rounds she made did the trick against the average grunts and below. Anything more significant, and it felt she was dealing with armored super mutants. Then she only put a few Microfusion cells out. She used them more for making explosives more than using them for the LAER. Amber considered the advance laser rifle to be a backup weapon more than anything but may have to pull it out more often. Even with the upgrades from the sink, it still felt like it was underperforming to some extent. Mainly how the weapon needed more maintenance than any other weaponry she ever owned. Perhaps now that she was in a new world, she could get some new materials to replace certain things in it, like performing for more prolonged durations between respiratory periods?

Looking at her only heavy weapon, she was going to need some material to build more rockets. Sure she had enough to take down the Powder Gangers all over again, but she needed to find a way to stay supplied. Maybe these Cerbures guys could help satisfy her need for raw material? She then pulled out the eight mini-nukes and set them down in two rows of four. These she hasn't gotten the chance to turn into Fat Mines.

Not for lack of effort really, just lack of duck tape.

Shepard told her what his mission, about fighting the Collectors. She asked him about some details, and he laid out everything. These Collectors had been going about abducting human colonies, and they sound like a tough foe. The legion did something similar in Arizona when they took it over, but she doubted that they wanted slaves. But Amber agreed without a second thought about joining the party. She was attracted to noble causes.

With all her supplies out, she pulled her weapons cleaning kit, took _Ranger Sequoia, _sat down on the cot, and started cleaning. Her mind wandered back to the conference room earlier. Shepard and the two Cerbures operatives had asked her a few questions. It had not been the first time she had been at the opening to an invention of joining a faction. House and Caesar being the two to come to mind.

The female Courier had always been a good judge of character, or she likes to think she does. The vibe she got off from Shepard was something else. He radiated confidence and leadership that would put Kimble and Oliver to shame. Everywhere he walks, they nod their heads at him with respect instead of rank. It was similar to what she saw with the Dead Horses that look towards Joshua Gramm.

He also called himself a 'Council Spector' and an officer of the 'System Alliance.' Both of which meant little to her as they were unrelated to her at the moment. But she filed the information for later when she has the time for more research. Then there is the organization the three were a part of, Cerberus. The origination itself gave her a bad feeling. Miranda had told her that Cerberus is organized to advance humanity in a more significant role in the galaxy over the other races. It wasn't bad per se until the Commander dropped the bomb that the organization would do anything, including doing questionable means to do so.

She felt less sure about her staying onboard the Normandy.

That said, when asked, she withheld a lot of information about her origins. They didn't need to know just yet on _where_ she came from, doubly so if they even believe Amber's story anyway. How many people cross universes in this day in age? Sure she can probably believe it. Talking brains in floating jars, ghost she-bears made of fire, need she say more? So far, only Garrus knew about her, and she'd stopped by his spot in the forward gun battery to ask him not to reveal her past without her permission. He agreed to it after some convincement but assured her that Shepard could be trusted.

Amber also didn't lie about things she did give out about herself. Told them that she was a former courier that became a privet contractor that took jobs whenever she saw fit. She'd been roaming for a while taking down slavers, and Garrus found her one day. When Miranda asked about my gear, I told her it was things she had found on her travels. Needless to say, she didn't like her answers.

Then a thought crossed her mind. _It's a little quiet.' I'm in another dimension! I wonder what music they have?' _

Dropping her cloth, she lifted her pip-boy and looked for any radio frequencies.

The pip-boy screen showed hundreds.

Clicking the first one, a series of loud beeps and blares came forth that made the Curour wince like she was hit with a sonic blast. Switching it off relieved the pain in her ears.

"This could take a while..." she said dryly as she started flipping through radio channels.

Back in the debriefing room, Shepard and Miranda were having a chat of their new addition on board.

"Look, Miranda, I understand you have reservations about this, but it is my decision," Shepard said firmly. "I can see Amber can be a great addition to the team." Miranda wasn't thrilled by it, and it showed.

"It's not her skills I'm douting Shepard, it's her loyalty. We do not know her. We barely know _anything_ about her, and she doesn't show up on any record. _Nothing!_" She pointed out firmly. "Not even Cerbures holds any information on her. It's like she didn't exist at all, and everything she has on her doesn't make sense!" Shepard was a little surprised by Miranda's output. In the short time that he'd known the women, she tried to be the picture-perfect of collected calm.

"What do you mean she doesn't exist?" Shepard clarified.

Miranda just walked over and stood in front of him. "I've had facial and voice recognition program running nonstop for any information about this women and came up with absolutely nothing. No job history, photo I.D, birth certificate, nothing. She is not on any networks that Cerbures has access to, and we have access to many."

Miranda shook her head in irritation. "It's like she doesn't exist. Everyone leaves a data trail at some point in their life, and she doesn't have one. And then their's her weapons and armor."

"Chemical propelled firearms and heavy power-assisted armor," Shepard shook his head at the idea. "Not something I thought I find working together way out here. But that alone doesn't mean she's untrustworthy. That's why I'm planning on taking her out for the next couple of missions. I need to see how she fights and hands situations."

Miranda gave a small irritable look before nodding. "Very well, Commander. This is your mission. I will put it in my report and see how this will turn out." Miranda then left the conference room.

Shepard frowned as his XO leaves. She was going to report this to the Illusive Man. He was somewhat grateful for Cerberus bringing him back, but that meant little in the way of trust between them. For actions in the past spoke louder than words in the present to the Commander, and for that, he trusts them as far as he could throw a Krogan.

He would assume that the lack of a past that they couldn't find would be of interest to Cerberu's intelligence. Wouldn't blame them, he to was interested in how she kept under even their radar.

Amber withheld a bunch of personal information from them, which she has the right. Shepard could only hope that his actions to her would gain trust over time and open up to them.

With that, he left the conference room and headed for the elevator. EDI said that Amber was down in the shuttle bay, making herself a living space. Hitting the commands to the control panel for the bay, he waited for the slow descent of the lift.

Shepard felt his eyebrow tick. If there was one thing they did right that was original to the first Normandy that Cerberus copied, it was how slow the damn elevators are. He wondered if they were like that by design or there was something faulty in the construction. He would have to ask one of the engineers later about that.

The elevator doors opened, and he walked out. Looking around, he saw a couple of containers were moved. Walking over, Shepard saw a little walk in and spotted the set of power armor that belong to the Courier. Making his way closer to the armor, he saw that it was unoccupied. That was when he heard music coming from further in.

That was when he saw the person of interest. Amber was sitting on a cot with her big revolver in hand and her hand messing with a strange metal device strapped to her arm. She hadn't noticed him yet as he took in more of what the Courier was wearing as it was like nothing he'd seen in his life.

She had on an old dark green duster with green arm guards, knee guards, and shoulder pads with white stars on them. Her chest plate had an ammo bandolier going from her right shoulder crossing down under her left. Overall. It was like crossing modern-day battle armor with men cowboy clothing. Plus, there was seeing it on a woman was a little off-putting, and even though he was standing for only a few seconds.

**'Knock' 'knock.' **Shepard knocked on one of the containers.

Amber looked up and saw Shepard the doorway to her little "room."

"Commander," Amber greeted.

"Courier," Shepard nodded.

"Need something?" She asked before closing the cylinder of the revolver.

"Just coming to check up on you. Saw that you made a little home for yourself back here." Shepard then walked over and looked over her weapons. "Wow...I don't even know half thing things on this table. While the other haft looks like they should be in museums or movies." That made Amber giggled.

"I've used weapons of all sorts in my life. Those in front of you are just the ones that are the most memorable and helped me out in a few jams." Amber replied as she stood. "So, what's up?"

"You have a moment to talk?" Shepard asked.

"Sure." Amber shrugged her shoulders.

"When going out on missions, how can I best use you in combat?" Amber found his question wasn't unreasonable. He would be leading the missions, so why shouldn't he know what she could do.

"Well, Commander. In combat, I prefer fighting my enemies at long range but not afraid to fight up close when I need to."

"I figure that with you football tackling a Krogan with a bowie knife and a wooden club," Shepard said in a joking manner.

"Not my best moment..." Amber looked away when she said that before turning back. "I'm also a bit of a mad bomber if you can't already tell. Anything explosive related you need, I can handle for you. When going out and facing a bunch of pirates, raiders, or slavers, I'll give you a variety of explosive flavors."

"Explosive flavors?" Shepard said with a raised eyebrow.

"Fragmentation, fusion, what's your fancy?" Amber asked playfully. Shepard shook his head, but his smile never left his face. Then he looked at the assorted items on the tables.

"Did you really find all these in your travels?"

Amber walked over and picked up _Lucky _and handed it to Shepard.

Shepard took and examed it. "Wow. Feel's like I'm holding a piece of history in my hands. Where did you get it?" He asked as he ran a finger over the ejection tube where the silver plate with the word "Lucky" was engraved.

"Found her early in my travels after my last job as a Courier went south. Saw her at the bottom an old floor safe in the gift shop of a closed casino/hotel."

"What were you doing in an old casino?" He handed back the pistol.

Amber hesitated before answering. "Tracking down a guy that stole a package from me at the time. Got the package back in the end."

"Must have been a pretty important package."

'_Major understatement._' "With the job done and receiving a bonus for my actions in the end. I decided to hit off and worked for myself."

"Well, you like your doing well for yourself. Why do you use so much outdated weaponry?" If Shepard thought Amber would be offended by calling her weapons outdated, she didn't show it.

"Railguns, missile launchers, energy weapons, rolling pins, a weapon is a weapon, Shepard. The real difference between each of them is the skills of the individual that uses them. Think of the best assault rifle you know and put it in the hands of a veteran soldier that seen plenty of combat and make him face five mercenaries. That vet isn't going to play around and will play it smart. Take a young punk with the same weapon in the same situation, and the outcome is going to be something different."

"Based all on skills of the individual? I can see that. Go to train hard if you want to be the best." Shepard nodded. "Is that why you use these?" He asked.

"The ones you see here have been with me in many fights. People who pitted themselves against me lose because they either underestimate me or they're stupid, or they're overconfident."

Shepard nodded in agreement. He was the same as he took down many enemies over the years because his foe's always underestimated him. Whether it was that they thought he was a weak human or a dumb soldier that can be taken down no problem.

"So, are you satisfied with what we have here? Do you need anything?"

"Mmm... I was going to ask you later but now that your here. I'm going to be coming up short on supplies to make my bullets pretty soon. Any way you think you could help me out with that?" The women asked.

"Make yourself a list and had it to Jacob Taylor. He runs the ship's armory and could help you if you need something weapon's related."

"I'll go to him later with a shopping list. Was there anything else?"

"Our next stop, we're getting our next member, a Krogan Warlord. I'd like you to be with the ground team when we go in. I need to gauge your skills on how well you work with others and see you in action myself."

Amber nodded with his reasoning. She was unknown to him and needed to know if she can work with others as a team. "That's reasonable. I'll get with Jacob and see what he can do for my needs. When's the mission?"

"Will be there in three days at the most. Grab what you need to take with and meet over by the shuttle over there." He pointed at the Kodiak that was lifted above the ground.

"Huh...well, good to know. Anything else, Commander?"

"I do have several more questions I would like to ask you, but I'll leave them for later...although," Shepard glanced to the side to look at the row of mini-nukes. "I have to ask that if you have anything extremely volatile that you bought on my ship? I do not want anything going off while we're away on mission."

Amber smiled and raised her hands in a confronting manner as she saw what he was glancing at. "Don't worry, Shepard, all my explosives are inert until they are physically activated by me, or someone that would be stupid enough to mess with my stuff."

"Still...I ask that the rest of the crew don't come over here unless I'm already here." She asked him.

"I'll be more conformable if they were in the ship's armory. But I will relay your warning to the crew." Shepard agreed.

"Welp!" Amber said as she holstered _Ranger Sequoia _on her side. "I'm hungry and been wondering what you guys have in the way of food around here. So if nothing else, I'm going to the mess." Shepard watched as she picks up one of her satchel charges and plants it on the inside of her door.

"What are you doing?" Shepard asked the women as to why she was arming an explosive on his ship.

"I don't trust leaving my things unattended on around some of your people," Amber replied in a blunt tone. "You yourself may be deemed trustworthy, but can I say for certainty about the rest of your crew?" Shepard didn't answer after a few seconds to which made her point. "This charge is keyed into my signal. As long as I'm within several meters of this, it won't go off no matter what or who is around. If I'm not around and someone comes by my stuff...well, hope your ship as plenty of cleaning supplies."

"Well, that..." Shepard dryly started to say before he was cut off when Amber drew her gun and pointed it at random area of the bay.

"That goes for you as well, Mcsneaky pants!" She shouted randomly in the direction her gun aimed at.

Shepard was could only blink in confusion as he was starting to question the women's state of mind before surprise took hold, and his resident thief appeared. Another one of his recent additions of the crew, Kasumi Goto, emerged from her tactical cloak deactivating, standing up with her hands in the air.

"What? Kasumi? How did you..." Shepard stuttered.

"Aw, you found me. How did you know where I was?" The Japanese descendent thief asked.

"You're not the first individual I've dealt with in the past that uses stealth tec." She replied as she holstered her weapon before walking into the elevator and sending her up.

Kasumi looked over at Shepard. "Where in the galaxy did you find her, Shepard?" The thief thumbed over to the elevator.

Shepard only replied with a sigh. "Picked her up when we got Garrus. What else do you want to know?"

"I want to know her secret to finding so many sweet historical weapons that she gots over there."

"...Your not the only one."

"Mmm...not bad." The Courier commented as she finished her third helping of food the mess Sargent gave her. That man had been surprised when she kept coming back for more of his food. Some of the crew that was there eating with her just looked at her in disbelief as she ate. Amber didn't get why. She found the food to be great. It didn't nearly have as many preservatives as some of the prewar food back in the wasteland. It was like a freshly cooked meal. Something that she only got when she found the right ingredients to make something for herself and her companions.

"Thanks for the food Sargent," Amber said as she handed the man her tray.

"Not a worry, ma'am. Come back at any time. I always have something on the stove ready if you're hungry." Gardner replied happily.

Amber turned away and exited the mess before entering the elevator before bunching in the up button for the ships C.I.C.

When she got to the command deck, she took a left and went to the ship's armory. Standing over one of the tables of weapons was the man she was looking for.

"Jacob Tayler?" She asked the man of African descent. The man turned to look at her a friendly smile appeared on his face.

"Hey, Amber, right? What's up?" The operative greeted.

"I was told to come to you for things regarding materials."

"Okey, anything specific?" Jacob clarified.

"I need raw materials and some components to make some of my ammo. Specifically for some of my heavier weapons. Can you help me out?" She asked.

"If what the footage I saw from you in action is by anything to go by, sure I'll help you with anything." He then shook his head in disbelief. "Never thought I see old firearms like the ones you have stand up against modern-day armor as well as yours did."

"Maybe they shouldn't have been walking around like targets at a shooting range." Amber shook her head in frustration. "They relied on there shields and armor to protect them, but look at what that has gotten them." Jacob nodded his head in understanding.

"I get that. I'm a biotic, but I don't solely rely on them like many others due. So, what are the materials that you need for this anyway?"

Amber then began listing all the ingredients that made up ammo's from the primers for her 50. to the conductors she needed to make her rockets. She found that Jacob to be a lot more reasonable then she thought. He was confused about some of the components the Courier required to make her rockets and gave her alternatives. She would make a few later to test them out. Guess cherry bombs aren't that big these days in weapons.

Jacob gave her a rundown on the universal power cells they use for their heavy weapons and thermal clips. The concept of thermal clips felt like a let down rather than a boost. Ammo turned out to be not a problem as the concept of ammo blocks held water in firefights in the Courier's eyes. But then he told her weapons without thermal clips have nowhere to disperse their heat and are incapable of firing. That concept of never running out of ammo just flew out the window for her, and her opinion of mass effect weapons felt like a letdown. These guns were fancier than anything the Brotherhood, NCR, or prewar America could create. In the end, she just told him to get the materials she needed to make her ammo.

"Alright, that should solve my problem for my ammo," Amber said tiredly.

"Question, Amber," Taylor asked. "That armor you got on now. You don't have a hard suit under it, do you?" Amber honestly didn't know what he was talking about and shook her head no. "Thought so, here." Jacob walked over to one side of the and picked up a small set of armor and handed it to her. "I got you this. It's a light hard suit that biotics use to keep us fast on our feet. Figure that you can wear this under the armor you've got. It is also very flexible in function, you can take the mag locks you use for holding the guns and place them on that sweet coat you got you. Plus, it also has a set of kinetic barrier belts to put on."

Amber took the armor and laid it out on a nearby table. It was like a cross over between the MKII stealth suit from Big Mountain and that red spacesuit she found in the REPCON rocket test site. A bit of armor on the chest and knees. The outer layer felt like some kind of kevlar weave along the rest of the exposed area. On the backside were three amber lights shaped like rectangles, one on each shoulder blade in a vertical line and one horizontal along the beltline. She remembered from Shepard's armor that he had weapons on each of these areas. Meaning those were the mag locks that Jacob spoke of. Lastly was the insulated helmet. It was similar to some of the mercs they fought against on Omega.

"This is doable, it will take some time to integrate everything into my armor, but it's something I can work with." Amber finally said. "I should be ready in time for the next mission."

"I can help you put it all together if you need to," Jacob offered, but Amber shook her head no.

"Thanks, but I maintain my own equipment, thank you. Nothing against your skills buts how I learned to take care of both myself and my things over the years."

"Fair enough."

"Also, do you by any chance have a spare Omi-tool? Mine got damaged and had to discard it," she lied.

"No problem," the man said as he picked up a silver wrist bracelet and handed it to her. "Here."

"Thanks."

Putting the Omni-tool on and tucking the armor under her arms, she left the armory for the elevator to head back to her little living area. When hitting the cargo/shuttle bay, she walked over and found that her satchel charge hadn't gone off. Deactivating her explosive, she went to work on incorporating the new armor to integrate it with her riot armor.

"Alright, time for an upgrade." Amber declared before getting to work.

* * *

_Happy N7 day to all that are reading this duel update on "The girl with the big iron on her hip" & "The Summer Reaper."_

_Thank you all for sticking with this story and my other story and hope you engoy the crazyness that comes out of my mind in future chapters._

Helljumper206-See you all over the web!


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello! The next chapter of the Couriors adventure thorugh space!**

**With the outbreak has me taken out of school, giving me a chance to work more on my stoires. If barly with how my girlfriend has been wanting me to get with her. Plus with how my RWBY X Mass Effect is taking off dispiet my grammer is I'm happy that so many are folloing these regardless of misstakes. Thank you all readers for taking the time of day to read this. **

**Lets get on with the story. **

* * *

.

"A little bit tight around the legs but shouldn't harm my movements or restrict my agility," Amber muttered.

She had just finished jury-rigging the thin hard suit under her riot gear. The Courier felt a little proud of this suit upgrade. Plus, with her new integrated air mask that fits nicely under the gasmask. She wouldn't have to worry about being left behind on missions that required work in dangerous environments. And if she didn't need it, she could easily take it out with no problems.

Some other things she added was the magnetic locks that held weapons. Amber found that the armor Jacob gave her had five of them instead of four like she thought, the fifth one used for carrying bigger and heavier weapons, which suited her just fine. She had managed to attach them to the backside of her riot gear with little problem. Plus, there was the weak shield system that the armor Jacob gave her had on. She saw those things take a few of her shots on Omega and thought little of them, but having something that would save her a trip to the ship's doctor was a plus.

Since coming on board, she had been avoiding the medical bay. That adventure at Big Mountain had left a bad taste in her mouth on doctors in general. Sure before that, she'd gone to the Vegas medical clinic for several operations for implants and medical supplies. But after the thing with the Brains in floating jars, well, Amber's opinion on doctors hasn't been that high since. Generally, avoiding them and patching herself up rather than letting someone in a white coat do it for her.

Amber shook her head slightly to keep her mind on the current task of finishing preparations. And right on time too, according to the ship A.I., they were about an hour away from there destination, Korlus.

From what info she could find on the planet. The place is a planet-wide disposing ground for ships and other junk in the galaxy. With the biggest business is the recycling of decommissioned or junked spacecraft into their segment parts. With the amount of garbage that gets thrown there, the atmosphere is full of greenhouse gases. Smog from various recycling plants does nothing on improving the situation.

It sounded a bit like prewar America to the Courier.

"Miss Amber." Came the electronic voice from the ship A.I.

"Yes, E.D.I.?"

"I wish to relay a message from Opritve Tayler that he has the equipment you requested ready for you." The machine informed her.

"Ah, thank you, E.D.I."

"You are welcome, Miss Amber, logging you out."

With that, she grabbed the necessary equipment she will need for the mission. From what Shepard explained, his purpose is to recruit the best for his big mission. The dossier for the guy that they were currently going to recruit was a scientist and an old Warlord from the Krogan Rebellion. A quick such of the rebellion later made my eye twitch at the death toll and the solution for ending it, the Genophage. She was going to have to think about that at another time.

Still, an old Warlord that's also a scientist? That was a new one in her books. Amber had faced Warlords and men of science before, never one that was a student to both. If she had to guess on a close comparison, it would be Cesar as he was once a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse before declaring himself an emperor of conquered tribes.

Yeah, that turned out great. Let's see what this guy whos ten times older then Mr. house has to offer.

The former Courier decided to go with her sniper loadout, consisting of her AM-rifle, War Club, and Ranger Sequoia. Alonge with her usual healthy load of explosives, mainly her homemade grenades and satchel charges that she stored in ED-E. She and that Eyebot have been through a lot. Even with his lazier still out of commission, his enhanced sensors will always be useful. Amber wanted to take All-Americanwith her but felt like she didn't have enough ammo for the mission, same for Red Glare. The thought of bringing her the modified L.A.E.R. passed through her head but decided against it. The world was new to both her self and the people around her. She didn't want to show all her cards just yet. So she folded it up and set it in ED-E's storage.

With her things gathered and her helmet under her arm. The Courier walked over to the elevator with ED-E following behind. Together they entered and went up to the combat deck before walking over to the ship's armory.

The entered and saw Jacob over at one of the work stations. He spotted them as soon as he entered. "Hey there, Amber. I've got the things you request for the mission." He pointed at the two boxes on the other table.

"Thanks. Those should help us while we are away." Amber walked over to the first box. Opening it up was filled with thermal clips.

"If you don't mind me asking. I noticed you're going on a mission with a bunch of outdated weapons and asking for a box of thermal clips for guns your not going to use, why carrying that much weight?" The Cerberus operative said from his bench.

Ignoring the outdated part, she answered. "They're not for me there for the team that I am going down to the planet with," Amber replied as she took the clips and opened ED-E's storage compartments. "I use ED-E here to hold my tools and extra equipment into the field. That also includes ammo for my weapons. I thought it would benefit everyone that's using them to carry additional ammunition for the team to use should they run out of thermal clips on their person."

Amber saw Jacob smile at that. "That's a great idea! If we're ever in a jam and ran out ammo while in a drawn-out firefight, your bot could fly over and resupply to one of us in a pinch."

"Exactly that. ED-E here has been a lifesaver for me in a few situations like that." Amber then opened up the second box to reveal a set of frag grenades. Unlike the green pinnable shaped explosives, she was used to throwing; these were silver cylinders with a red button on top. "These should do nicely. Thanks for allowing me to use these, Jacob," she thanked the man.

"No problem. Anyway, those supplies you asked a few days ago are ready to be delivered to us at the next supply drop."

"When is that?"

"The supply drop scheduled in two days," he informed her.

Amber nodded her thanks before leaving the armory for the elevator again.

* * *

.

"You sure your up for this, Garrus?" The Commander asked his old friend.

"I'll be fine, Shepard." The Turian replied. "I need to prove I'm not dead weight around here. Besides Dr. Chakwas said I need to move around rather than stay in the Normandy's gun battery."

"I don't think going on a mission after taking a rocket to the face is what she had in mind, Garrus, and your not dead weight either," Shepard said firmly.

The N7 Soldier and former C-sec officer we're down in the hanger waiting for their third teammate to show up. Shepard thought she would have already been down here, but E.D.I. said she was making final preparations in the armory and was on her way down. While they waited, Shepard was going over his friend's health as it would be the first time fighting after getting a significant injury. Few ever walk away from getting a missile to the head.

A couple of moments later, the door to the elevator opened and revealed the missing third member of their party. The two had to blink for a sec while they looked at the Courier.

Amber had on her riot helmet with the low red glow coming out of her eyeholes. It gave off a feeling of fear around her being. Like death would follow in her wake. It made the two remember who was in front of them and not reach for their guns.

Shepard was the first to speak. "I assume you're ready for the mission, Amber?"

The former Courier nodded. "All ready to go. Let's do this!" She said enthusiastically to the look she had had before marching into the shuttle with her floating robot following her in.

The Commander shook his head before following behind with his Turian friend not far behind.

The three stood in the dropships crew compartment as the shuttle flew out of the Normandy. As their ship drifted into the atmosphere of the planet, Shepard couldn't help but eye the floating robot that the Amber brought with her.

"So why you brining the flying robot, Amber?" Shepard asked.

"ED-E is coming with us for support," Amber told them. "Currently, the weapon he has in him is damage. Until I find the right parts to fix him, ED-E is going to be sticking to the rear out of danger. Thou he can't fight with us, he is still useful. He's got some enhanced onboard sensors on him that connect to my armor that are useful at locating enemies on the battlefield."

"It's true. That thing helped prevented a few close calls back on Omega," Garrus confirmed.

"I also just filled him up with thermal clips. If you run out or are low, call out to ED-E here for ammo, and he'll drop you some."

"Now that sounds handy," Shepard replied. Liking the idea of a robot running supplies to them at a moment's notices sound good when in a drawn-out firefight.

_"Commander, there's a firefight happening and is getting too heavy to land. I'm dropping you to the nearest area closest to your objective."_ Called the shuttle pilot.

"Understood, get ready, people." The three stood ready with their weapons trained. Garrus had his assault rifle in hand while Shepard and Amber drew their pistols. They saw the shuttle doors pop open, and Shepard jumped out, seeing the dust hit around them. He aimed looked at his surroundings before getting behind cover and quickly joined by Garrus and Amber.

"No contacts, Commander," Garrus said.

Shepard looked around, seeing the view of how this place looked like a graveyard. "The dossier doesn't say if Okeer is on this planet by choice. Assume hostiles."

_"There is only one measure of success: Kill or be killed! Perfection is your goal."_ Looking around and they spotted some speakers above.

"Someone likes the sound of their voice," Garrus commented.

"Stay focused. We are looking for a Krogan warlord." Nodding their heads, we proceeded forward as we kept on hearing the speakers speak again Shepard stopped them. Looking ahead, he saw a barricade from the enemy. "Lookout positions, Blue Suns ahead. Six or seven of them. We can get the jump on them."

Shepard looked over at Amber and patted er shoulder, and they switched places. "Find cover and engage on my mark." He said and leaned out from around the corner and crouched down to the nearest covered position.

With a vicious bang, the mercenary flew back as if he got caught in a great wind, his companions looked around in shock and fired in Amber's direction.

Garrus was first to run out and hide, unloading a careful barrage of cover fire. Shepard joined in with his Avenger with spraying down foes. Amber fired two more times, sending a merc flying each. Their group made short work of their opposition, with Garrus signaling that all mercs were down at the end of it all.

As they made their way over the ramp, a single Blue Sun's Trooper leaned against a broken engine with a panicked look on his face. He was unarmed as he tried to stop the gunshot wound in his shoulder from bleeding to no avail. The bald Trooper looked young, around his early twenties. His voice proved it as everyone could hear the untrained waver in his voice.

"Really?" Amber deadpanned at the guy. "That flesh wound is barely worth complaining about?"

Shepard interjected. "Well, he doesn't need to know that."

The mercenary looked up at us, his brow a furrow. "I knew it wasn't berserkers… Not at range. You're mercs. Or Alliance. I'm not… I'm not telling you shit." He said through gritted teeth.

Shepard was about to bribe the guy with a shot of Medi-gel. But then Amber held a hand up, silencing the soldier before he could speak.

"Here, let me," she said before walking up to the Trooper. She then leaned over and began whispering into the merc's ear that Shepard couldn't hear what she was saying.

Shepard looked over to Garrus, and the former C-sec cop shrugged his shoulders in response. He was turning back to the two, and the Blue Sun's merc was turning pale at an alarming rate. With Amber holding a needle right in front of his face. Now it made more sense.

"So, what do you know?" Amber backed off and asked politely.

"I-I, I don't know anything! I swear! We just kill the overflow they send out of the labs!" The Trooper said in a quick panic.

"Anything else we should know?"

"The old krogan up there, he's really be cleaning house lately. Jedore hired him to make her an army, but the krogan he creates are insane, so we use them as live ammo training." He explained. That's when his radio came to life.

"_Outpost Four? Jedore wants us to move. We need coordinates on that krogan pack_."

Amber tilted her head to the side. "What's he talking about, buddy?"

"Jedore runs a Blue Suns outlier, and she's making Krogan for an army. But they all come out crazy. Tough as hell, but just insane." The merc told them while he shook at the idea.

"Conventional weapons have to be cheaper than a set up like this," Garrus commented.

"I don't know. I just point shoot and bank my credits. Maybe there's something better up in the lab?" The merc replied.

The merc peered up at Amber, a horrified look on his face as she leaned forward, her hand on his shoulder, the needle resting above the exposed bullet hole. "Make them disappear… you feel me?" She said in a low threat.

The terrified merc nodded and leaned into his radio. "Uh… patrol? The last group… dispersed. Lost sight five minutes ago."

"_Dispersed? Jedore will be pissed. She wanted a show._" The radioman replied.

"You asked for a report, and you got it. Dispersed."

The voice on the other end acknowledged, albeit agitatedly. "_Understood. Returning to the labs._"

He cut the radio. "See? I'm helping."

Amber took her hand away. "What do you know about Okeer? You've seen him around?"

The wounded merc shook his head. "We can't go in the labs, but everyone sees when the Krogan come out. I've shot hundreds. They're crazy. Mindless. Anyone up there, they know whats going on."

"Why does this chick want with all these Krogan?" Amber asked next.

"Replace us probably," the merc said offhandedly. "I sure don't want to see an army of them coming at me. Only she can't control them. They aren't supposed to be crazy, but they're Krogan. How smart are they to start?"

"From my experience with big lizards, I'm not expecting much. What kind of security do you guys have around here?" Amber questioned next.

"We have big guns to keep ships away," he said as he jerked his head to where their base, "We're not outfitted to fight goddamn commandos." Amber turned back to Shepard as he watched the whole interrogation with silent commentary.

"Need to ask any more questions asked, Commander?" Amber asked as she looks back at the man leading them.

"No, I think we got everything."

"Welp, suggest we're all done now," the Courier said with a cheerful voice as she turned back to the wounded merc. "Run along now. Best not to be here when the shooting starts." The merc paled and hissed before limping away at a fast pace.

The two guys stared at the retreating merc before turning back to the strange women in the group. "What did you say to the guy that made him scared like he is?" Shepard.

"Sorry, but a lady never reveals her tricks," Amber replied as she drew her sniper rifle off her back and walked off.

The two guys looked at each other and came up with a single conclusion that seemed universal across space.

_Women are scary._

* * *

.

"_Training is part of your contract,_" the voice continued on the loudspeaker as they moved forward, walking past the dead mercs. "_Failure to perform means liquidation, legal, and otherwise._"

"Man, does this chick ever shut up?" Amber said out loud.

"You could ask her when we find her," Garrus answered.

"Come on. Our warlord is somewhere in Jedore's lab." Shepard said, ending the conversation.

Going around the wrecked buildings, Amber saw two enemies above a ridge and began to fire as Shepard, and the rest took cover quickly. Peaking over the rubble that was her cover, she spotted the two Blue Sun mercs firing at them from their high vantage point. Amber also noted that they were fully exposing themselves while they fired down at them.

_Not even N.C.R. rookies were this sloppy._ Amber thought before she raised her rifle and blew the first one's head right off his shoulders. With him down, his buddy stopped and looked at his now-dead partner. Still exposed, Ambers two teammates took the opportunity to pull out their sniper rifles and fired together, one taking out his barrier and the other headshots him.

With them done, they moved on down a ramp and turned on the next right, followed by walking down a trench. Then Amber spotted more mercs coming from the right side across above them.

"Watch out there coming from above!" She called out before ducking behind some metal scrap. A moment later, her cover was rained down upon by mass accelerators. Shepard and Garrus returned fire at them, which allowed her to glimpse at their positions. She saw a high bridge that joined the two parts of the higher area. Above there were the three Blue Suns and beyond them, at the far end of the clearing, were two more Blue Suns mercs.

Amber got out of cover and aimed her AM rifle squeezing the trigger, sending the bullet towards one of the mercs head as it exploded his brain splatter all over. That also made the merc that was standing next to him freak out as now he had his friends gray matter on him. Three seconds later, he was joining him in the afterlife. By then, her two teammates both sent their concussion shots and finishing off the other mercs.

"Good job people, move up," Shepard said.

We continued on and past under the bridge, turning right and following the path up some stairs. They came into a clearing with a balcony on the other side. A group of Blue Suns mercs was already there, looking at her I.F.S. showed that there were six of them. Two on the right and four coming in from their left. They saw each other at the same time and responded at the same time too. Amber felt their rounds hit her but saw that her new barriers were already playing out in blocking them. Still, despite being smaller than the bullets back home, the momentum hit like she was hit with a big hammer, making her stumbled back. With the experience of countless battles of wasteland combat under her belt, made her shift her body before rolling to cover.

Reding her AM rifle, she pulled out and turned on V.A.T.S. and targeted the exposed merc for one shot. Her round connected with his chest, making it a new air hole for him to breathe out of. Chambering the next round, she went to work on butting new holes in the girl with the missile launcher.

"Garrus, Overload!" Shepard shouted. A moment later, a Blues Sun troopers spazzed out as blue lightning hit him before jumping to the guy next to him. With them in shock from the electricity Shepard effectively gunned down the two.

"Nice one!" Amber said, having witnessed the kills.

They soon finished up and moved on. Passing by a lot of dead Krogan lying in the ground, making Amber think of the situation.

"_The Krogans are your example and your warning! As ferocious as they are, failures are expendable._" The voice on the loudspeaker spoke again as they finished.

"Really not liking this woman," Amber said.

"My opinion isn't that hight as well," Garrus commented.

They rounded the next corner and saw three Blue Sun Mercs high up with assault rifles firing down on a lone Krogan fighting back. Amber noted that the Krogan appeared as a 'friendly' on her sensor screen.

"Ready snipers!" Shepard barked out the order. Amber pulled out her AM rifle, same with Garrus and the Commander.

All three lined up their shots and fired together without another word. Ending the small firefight in a snap. The Krogan lowered his gun and turned to stare at them. He didn't say anything as we approached him with cautious steps. That didn't mean they kept their weapons up as they approached him.

Shepard was the first to lower his gun, followed by Amber and Garrus. The big alien leaned forward as if he was looking directly at them.

"You… are different. New. You don't smell like this world. Seven night cycles and I have felt only the need to kill. But you… something makes me speak." He finally spoke. His voice was strange, thick like he was still figuring out how to use it.

"Seven night cycles? And he's already this big?" Amber said in surprise.

Shepard looked back and responded to his question. "They must breed them full-size, ready to kill. Not much improvement over regular mercs if they need training."

The krogan spoke again. "Bred…to kill. No. I kill because my blood and my bone tell me to. But it's not why I was flushed from glass mother. Survival is what I hear in my head. Against the enemy that threatens all my kind. But I failed before even waking. That is what the voice in the water said. That is why I am here."

_ "Glass mother?"_ repeated Amber inside his head.

Amber listened intently on the conversation Shepard had with the Krogan clone. He asked it about the Blue Suns commander and about the "Glass Mother," and getting simple child-like answers in return.

"Do you know to get to the laboratory? There's a guy named Okeer that I need to talk to," he said to the Krogan.

He seemed to recognize it, somewhat. "The…glass mother. She is up. Past the broken parts. Behind many of you fleshy things. I will show you," the Krogan declared. He walked over to the nearby wall, grabbed a sheet of iron that had been wielded to it, and pulled it away with a single grunt of effort. Once it was detached, he threw it to the ground.

Amber was impressed by the clone's strength. She bet real money to see him and a super mutant in a fighting ring.

"Glad he's friendly," Garrus remarked, looking at the sheet, back at the Krogan, and then at the sheet again.

"Yeah, not fist fighting this guy." Amber nodded in agreement as the three walked up to the now revealed tunnel.

"You fleshy things are slow when big things are in your way," the Krogan said, making it sound like that explained it all.

"You could have run or fight your way back to the labs. Why stay here?" Shepard asked.

"I am waiting," he answered. "The voice told me. If they come, I fight. But I will not run, and I will not follow. I am not perfect, but I have purpose. I must wait until called. Released," he said simply, turning away and walked away.

We watched him as he walked. "Okay…" Amber said.

"Let's move," Shepard ordered. Drawing his shotgun and taking point. Amber followed behind with her revolver at the ready. What lay beyond what the sheet had covered was a small tunnel, barely tall enough to stand straight up in.

"Not a lot of room to maneuver," Garrus noted as he went into the tunnel after her. It was so small that they virtually had to walk in a line.

The tunnel soon took a sloping downward path, making the tunnel feel bigger. When their group reached the bottom, they heard someone screaming. "They're loose! Run for your damn life! They're all free!"

Seeing two mercs run towards them began to fire, Amber feeling her shields going a bit down shot quickly and killing one merc. While Shepard put the other on his ass with a concussion shot before ending him with his shotgun. When they turned the corner, they stopped again. They saw another fully armored Krogan standing in the way of the path. This one was less friendly with them as he roared at them.

Amber stopped time momentarily with VATS and got a high target rating on the tank bred's weapon and head. Tagging both and letting time resume, her revolver barked twice with both shots nocking the shotgun the big lizard had out of his hands. Ranger Sequoia fired twice again into the glass eye sockets in his helmet. He roared in pain this time before he was silenced by Garrus with the burst of his rifle.

"_Who authorized that krogan release? Okeer?_" The woman on the loudspeaker demanded. "_I will have order in my compound!_"

"Sounds like she's about lost it," Amber commented. "We can use that for an advantage."

Let's not waste it then, push forward!" Shepard said as he fired his shotgun at the advancing Krogan. The three pushed forward to meet the hoard.

* * *

.

Shepard was panting as he climbed the stairs up while ignoring the bodies of Krogan in his team's wake. The fight only lasted for four minutes, but the Krogan it seemed like an hour as he was beaten pretty good as he applied a bit of medi-gel to himself. They had gone through over a dozen tank bred Krogan to get down that one hall and was paying the price for it.

Afterward, they ran into several more squads of Blue Sun Mercs. A combination of the usual troops with mech support.

Looking back at his team. Amber was loading Garrus up with thermal clips from her floating robot ED-E. She was earning quite a few points in his book from this one mission. Half the kills in the Krogan filled hallway were hers and that outdated AM-rifle, sniping them from the rear while he and Garrus took the bunt of the attack. Blowing Krogan brains with Armor-piercing bullets.

Amber also proved she is a mad bomber. She used an assortment of explosives on the Blues Suns that left his bones rattled under his armor and smart for when to use them. There was one she used that turned two mercs into puddles of green goo. That scared Shepard and Garrus a bit at what those Fusion grenades can do. They don't know what she put in them to cause that reaction and was half fascinated to know but pushed his curiosity back for now, for they were still on a mission.

Making into what had to be the Okeer's lab where Shepard's team was fixing to enter. Judging by the radio exchange, most of the Blue Suns were either dead or running somewhere safe. Jedore, the Blue Suns commander, was still shouting orders through the loudspeakers, but it was unknown whether she understood that there was probably no one to follow those orders.

The walk they took led them to a door on the far side of the area. Everyone with their guns out and ready. But when they went through, they didn't find any mercs waiting for them. Instead, they just found one Asari in a scientist's uniform. "Shepard, don't shoot! You know me!" she said instantly, throwing her hands up and walked towards them.

"I shut down the security cams as soon I saw it was you. Never thought I say it, but I'm glad it's you shooting up the place. Sorry, Rana Thanoptis. You let me go when you destroyed Saren's lab on Virmire. Had to outrun a nuke in a utility pod, but it's still a second chance."

Shepard blinked as he tried to remember before and clicked in. "Yeah, I remember you."

"Yeah, I'm not very proud of what went on there, but I'm using what we learned for the greater good."

"I'm not here for the mercs," Rana quickly stated. "Jedore's on a standard power trip. But Okeer is trying to do something good, I can tell. Even if his methods are a little…extreme," she finished weakly, looking at one of the dead bodies that lay on the operating table close to her. She looked at him. "Everyone deserves a second chance. Right?" she asked him. "And sometimes giving pays off. I take care of my debts."

"What is Okeer trying to do here?" Shepard asked her.

Rena shakes her head. "It's complicated. Jedore wants a privet army, but Okeer mostly ignores her. He's running the project for his own reasons. I created a mental imprint routine to educate his tank bred, but most don't go through it. He dumps them for some reason." She said as she looks at the body of nearby dead Krogan on another table.

"Why is he doing this? What's the point?" Amber asked the woman.

"He wants to help his people, but he's not looking for a cure, and he's not looking for numbers. That's all I know," she finished.

Shepard gave the woman a hard look. "Finding you in a place like this makes me think letting you go was a mistake. You don't want that." He stated clearly.

"We agree on that. Don't worry; I plan on staying as far away from anything that has to do with you as possible. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to run like hell before you blow the place or something. I know how you work." She walked past them all, heading for the door they came through. To her credit, she didn't bolt until she was out the door.

"I'm all for second chances. Not so sure about third ones," Garrus commented.

"Forget about her. We must be close to Okeer if we're coming across the labs now." Amber said as she readied her rifle. Shepard didn't say anything.

As it turned out, they were right next door to the Krogan. When they walked through the door in front of them, they entered a long room with a giant window dominating the right side of it. Close to the door was a giant container filled with liquid with a computer beside it. Inside the tube was a Krogan. But it was the Krogan standing beside the tube looking out through the glass that had their attention.

"Here you are! I've watched your progress." Okeer rumbled in his low voice before turning to them. "It's about time. The batteries on these tanks will not wait while you play with this idiotic mercs."

Shepard gave the Krogan a leveled look. "I take it you are Okeer. You don't seem particularly caged… or grateful that I'm here."

The Krogan turned around and looked at Shepard straight in the eyes. "You may claim to be here to help, but the formerly deceased Shepard is not a sign of gentle change."

As if reading her thoughts, Okeer smiled, revealing a row of huge yellow teeth."Surprised," he asked. Apparently, he wasn't expecting an answer. "All Krogan should know you. I'm sure Rana has revisited your actions on Virmire."

Okeer spread his arms out wide like a grand opening. "Such a tale! Saren, the Spectre traitor, threatens the return of the Krogan horde by curing the Genophage. Undoing the gentle genocide of the Turians and Salarians," the Krogan said and glared at Garrus before returning his gaze towards Shepard. "But before Saren can deliver his endless army of Krogan troops, in rides Shepard, securing the victory for the rest of the galaxy through nuclear fire. I like that part. It has weight."

Shepard crossed his arms. "You didn't sound very angry at me for the possible destruction of the Krogan future." That is because I approve. Saren's pale horde were not true Krogan. It is a mistake all non-Krogan are destined to make. Everyone seems to think that it is numbers that make Krogan great when it is not," Okeer told them.

"And this Blue Sunscommander here is no different?" Amber asked.

"I gave their leader my rejects for her army. But she grows impatient. It's time for you to take me out of here." He explained as his gaze looked to the many cloning tanks outside.

"We heard you dealt with Collectors in the past. We want whatever information you have." Amber said to the Krogan, making Okee turn back to them.

"I see. Yes, the Collectors attacks on human colonies have increased. My dealings with them were focused elsewhere," the Krogan warlord approached the tank and placed his hands on the glass. "I have acquired the technology to create this one pure soldier. With that, I will inflict the greatest insult an enemy can suffer. To be ignored."

"Your search for a perfect soldier created many 'failures,'" Shepard said with an edge in his voice. "Don't you care about them?"

"I failed no one. My rejects are exactly what Jedore asked for," Okeer replied. "They are strong and healthy and utterly useless to me. Jedore simply lacks the ability to command them."

"I want perfection. If a few thousand are rejected, so be it. My work will purify the Krogan. We will not be restored - we will be renewed," Okeer said as he once again lost himself in pathos. Shepard had a feeling that the Krogan warlord really liked the sound of his own voice. "We will not need the numbers. My soldier is a template. It is a greater threat than all the phantom siblings that would have been at its flank. The galaxy still bears the scars of the horde. But it will learn to fear the lance." He finished with a clenched fist.

"Ok, let's get back to why we're here. You got in contact with the Collectors; what can you tell me about them?"

Okeer turned to look at her. "They are strange. So isolated, yet very available when your price is big enough. I gave them many Krogan."

The Krogan made several steps towards Shepard. "I may have information for you, but the tech was consumed within my prototype. After I determined how to use it without killing the subjects. The deaths were unfortunate, but I only need one success to start the process."

In all honesty, Shepard has heard enough. "Your methods are extreme, but you know how to deconstruct a threat. Will you help us?

"Perhaps we can strike a deal to secure my passage. But my prototype is not negotiable. It is the key to my Legacy."

Before Shepard could come up with any kind of reply, the doors to the lab closed and locked.

"_Attention, everyone. I have traced the Krogan release. Okeer, of course_," Jedore 's voice came from the loudspeakers. "_I'm calling a 'blank slate' on this project. Gas these commandoes and start over from Okeer's data. Flush the tanks!_"

The old Krogan stomped towards the lab's large window and looked down. The Commander followed him and looked through the window. He saw a large cargo hold filled with tanks that probably contained more Krogan rejects. A woman in Blue Suns' uniform and tech armor was pacing between the tanks and a Heavy Mech.

"She is that weak-willed? She'll kill my Legacy with a damned valve!" Okeer said and turned to the three. "Shepard! You want the information on the Collectors? Stop her!"

"Why? Let's just get out of here," Shepard asked him. "You made one perfect soldier, you can now make another."

"No!" Okeer said as he looked back at the tank. "Too much effort was put into this one. And the Collector's technology I traded was consumed by the prototype. Go! Jedore will be with the rejected tanks. Kill her. I will... stay and do what must be done."

Shepard felt annoyed but didn't waste time arguing and moved for the door with his two squadmates right behind him. They descended down the stairway before entering the cloning room. The room itself looked to be an old cargo hold from a ship but didn't have long before having to duck in cover from the incoming missiles.

"I don't care who you are!" Jedore shouted as she fired another shot from her missile launcher. "I'll kill you all! This is my world! Mine!"

Looking over his cover, he saw Jedore was standing on the far side of the room. She was standing next to a tank, and her armor had additional tech armor gleaming over it. A Heavy Mech standing close to her. There were more than one tank in that room, and each tank had a Krogan clone inside them. Shepard saw as Jedore fiddled with her omni tool, and then the in the room opened and flooded the cargo hold with Krogan berserkers.

"Kill them! I command you!" Jedore screeched to the Krogan and fired once again with her missile launcher.

"Garrus! Focus fire on the Krogan!" Shepard ordered as he lunched a Concussion shot at one of the Krogen that was near the side of a ledge, sending him over. Only to be replaced by another Krogan. Forcing him back to cover. "Amber! Got anything that could take down that Mech?"

He saw the armored duster wearing women with her AM rifle shooting down another Krogan. Amber took a moment to look at the big YMIR Mech before answering. "Maybe, ED-E get over here!" The machine floated to her and reached into its storage compartment.

As she did that, Shepard went back to firing at the Krogan. The brutish aliens were mostly armed with shotguns that were ineffective at such range. Still, several of them had assault rifles, and those were firing wildly, forcing several of Shepard's teammates into cover. There was also a matter of Jedore and her missile launcher, but that will be resolved quickly. He switches to his sniper rifle and armed it with Disrupter rounds. His shots destroyed the enemy commanders Tech armor with a couple of blasts, staggering her. A split second later, Jedore jerked back and fell dead, courtesy of Garrus' Mantis.

"Good shooting Garrus!" Shepard shouted to the Turian as he switched back to assault rifle and continued to fire on the incoming Krogan. "Focus fire back on the Krogan, push them back!" Victoria ordered. Then he saw a lumbering form of YMIR mech appear from behind one of the tanks. "Ah shit, and here comes the heavy!"

The Heavy Mech sent a missile into their general direction and proceeded to spray the team's positions with its heavy machinegun. Everyone ducked into cover, and Shepard cursed under his breath. They needed to take the Heavy now, or else it will keep them suppressed, allowing the rest of the Krogan to get close, and then it will get really ugly.

"Amber, are you ready yet?!" He looked back at the Courier to see her fiddle something in her hand. When the object in question was shown, it looked like a tin can with the old fashion grenade pin on top.

"Ready!" She answered, taking one last look before pulling the pin before lobbing it in a high arc at the big robot and land behind it. "Get down and don't look at the blast!"

Doing as they were told, neither of the guys knew what she just threw at the Mech, but when someone tells you to get down when tossing an unknown explosive, you go down.

"**BOOM!**" "**_CREEK!_**" "**BAM!**"

The fist explosion really did shook Shepard to the bone. He could feel his whole body vibrate under his armor. The rest was from the Heavy Mech braking down and detonating in its own fiery explosion. Looking up to check in the aftermath, the giant robot was no more than a pile of useless scrap.

"Whoa..." Shepard said in slight awe at the distruction.

Suddenly, they all heard the wailing of alarms coming up from the lab. "What is that krogan up to?" Garrus demanded.

EDI had the answer for them. "Commander, the lab alarms coincided with a systems failure. The remaining lab systems are unprotected, and I have gained limited access."

According to lab scanners. The room is flooded with toxins, and Okeer's personal life signs are falling rapidly. I suggest haste."

"Everyone, back upstairs, now!" he shouted to the team, rushing for the door. He heard his teammates follow him through the door and then up the stairs.

"_Contamination detected. Emergency vent in progress,_" a steady woman's voice announced the loudspeaker over an over.

As they hacked the entered the lab, Shepard saw the still form of Okeer lying near the console. She approached him and managed to roll the Krogan on his back. The alien's mouth was covered in white foam, and his eyes rolled up to the back of his head.

There was a little blinking symbol that told him there was a video message waiting to be opened. He clicked it open, revealing Okeer standing at the screen. The timestamp showed it was only a few minutes old.

The warlord's face appeared on the screen. "_You gave me time, Shepard. If I knew why the Collectors wanted humans, I would tell you. But everything is in my prototype. My Legacy is pure. This… one soldier, this grunt. Perfect…_"

"Why would someone so fanatical sacrifice himself for one Krogan?" Garrus said as the three of us looked at the tank bred Krogan. He did look different than most Krogan he'd seen.

"No telling what crazy mombo jumbo that witch doctor poured into that things head? It could be fun to see what happens?" Amber said.

"A 'Pure' Krogan could pack a hell of a punch. We can always use another heavy hitter." Shepard said.

"If he'll help," Garrus pointed out. "I doubt anyone asked for his opinion.

Shepard shrugged and activated is com. "Normandy? Okeer is a no go. But we have a package that needs retrieval. And his big one."

* * *

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**Freaking long chapter. Thank you all for reading and I hope everyone gets through this outbreak with no problem. **


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